Today, on November 16, during the briefing with the journalists in the National Assembly, Chairman of the Standing Committee on Defence and Security Issues of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia Andranik Kocharyan characterized the uniform of the Minister of Defence, in which he appeared in the parliament, as “an incomprehensible uniform” and “a fisherman’s uniform”.

This behavior, which is not appropriate for a high-ranking state official, is not only absolutely unacceptable, but also a consequence of Andranik Kocharyan’s screaming lack of knowledge regarding the defence sphere. On November 16, Minister of Defence David Tonoyan appeared in the parliament in a uniform, the style and rules of wearing of which are defined by the order 1694 of December 24, 2019 of the RA Ministry of Defence. In other words, it is not only an “incomprehensible” uniform, but it is approved by the Ministry of Defence with all the necessary procedures and the rules of wearing it are defined with all the details. And if the Chairman of the Standing Committee on Defence and Security Issues of the National Assembly, at least officially, tried to be interested in the issue, he would have been informed that the civil servants of the Ministry of Defence have been wearing that uniform for about a year. In other words, Mr. Kocharyan with the expression “fisherman’s uniform” actually insulted several hundred civil servants of the Ministry of Defence who wear this uniform with honor every day.

We expect that the high-ranking state official will have enough prudence and courage to apologize to all the employees of the Ministry of Defence, who, by his definition, wear a “fisherman’s uniform”.