YEREVAN. – The April inquiry committee does not rely only on what former Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan said; I consider important the explanations of the commander of the [Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh)] Defense Army on the quality of diesel fuel during the April war. Andranik Kocharyan, Chairman of the National Assembly (NA) Inquiry Committee for Examining the Circumstances of the Military Activities of April 2016, stated this in a conversation with journalists Monday in Armenia’s parliament.
When asked why the committee’s meeting today with Karapetyan lasted short, Kocharyan said. "Because Karen Karapetyan was in office since October 2016, and the questions to be addressed to him were related to the armaments and rear service, the statements made by him at the time (...). We have received the answer to those questions as much as Karen Karapetyan answered."
Kocharyan said that Karapetyan gave the answer to the question they were interested in at the closed session of the committee. "After all, the committee does not rely only on the answers given by Karen Karapetyan. When the committee asks the question, it also has studies related to it during that one year. All the details related to April [2016 war] are currently in this room of the NA building."
To the question whether there was low-quality diesel fuel, which was the reason for the non-operation of the armament during the aforesaid war, Andranik Kocharyan said. "I can say for sure that the officers of the Defense Army tried to use the opportunities at their disposal to the maximum, as much as they could."
Asked whether the Prosecutor General of Armenia also will be called to the NA inquiry committee because he had responded to Karapetyan's statement on fuel, Kocharyan said. "We would summon the Prosecutor General if he has anything to add to our information base."
Andranik Kocharyan noted that ex-PM Hovik Abrahamyan was also on their list of invitees. "But I don't think the study will add further," he added. "We have no decision regarding Hovik Abrahamyan [yet]."
