YEREVAN. – MP and Karabakh War veteran Rustam Gasparyan is of the view that it is not mandatory for a defense minister to be a military person.
“The defense minister does not necessarily have to be a member of the military; that he be from the trench,” the opposition “Prosperous Armenia” National Assembly Faction member told Armenian News-NEWS.am am.
As per Gasparyan, the office of the defense minister is political, and this minister’s duty is to raise politico-military matters in various countries, whereas the chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces deals with the other matters.
Vigen Sargsyan, a non-military person, was recently appointed Minister of Defense of Armenia, for the first time.
Prior to this appointment, Sargsyan was serving as head of the Presidential Administration of Armenia.