Armenia’s Defense Ministry issued a statement regarding reports about citizens protesting near the ministry’s headquarters on September 29.
The ministry clarified that Chief of the General Staff Edvard Asryan did meet with the protesters, and the meeting lasted several hours.
“Some media outlets lacking proper information claimed that no meeting had taken place between the Defense Ministry and citizens protesting near the ministry building. From the start of the protest, the ministry offered meetings with Deputy Defense Minister Arman Sargsyan, who also serves as deputy head of the interagency commission on captives, hostages, and missing persons, and later with General-Major Teymur Shahnazaryan, Deputy Chief of the General Staff.
The participants insisted on meeting with the chief of staff and several former servicemen. Chief of the General Staff Edvard Asryan received the citizens, and the meeting lasted several hours,” the statement said.
The ministry stressed that Defense Ministry personnel treated the protesters respectfully and that no excessive force was used against them.
“At the same time, we must note that some protesters threw bottles and other objects at military police officers (videos exist), yet the officers’ conduct remained respectful,” the statement continued.
On September 29, parents of servicemen still missing after the 2020 war gathered at the Defense Ministry gates, demanding a meeting with Chief of the General Staff Edvard Asryan and Kamo Vardanyan, former commander of the Artsakh Defense Army and now an adviser to the defense minister.
