An opposition lawmaker who reviewed a classified parliamentary report says a long-awaited inquiry into Armenia’s 2020 war defeat does not clear Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of responsibility.
The pro-government majority created the ad hoc commission in February 2022 to examine the causes of the defeat, evaluate government and military decisions, and review pre-war defense preparedness. Opposition factions boycotted the body from the outset, calling it a vehicle to whitewash what they describe as Pashinyan’s wartime mismanagement.
Commission chair Andranik Kocharyan submitted the findings to Speaker Alen Simonyan more than a month ago. The 215-page report had been slated for partial publication and debate in a September plenary session. Instead, Simonyan abruptly pulled it from the agenda, arguing the panel violated the 18-month legal limit on its work—and then classified the document.
That move means only deputies with security clearance can read the report and none may disclose details. Gegham Manukyan of the Hayastan alliance did so anyway this week, saying he has already sent written questions to three law-enforcement bodies based on the report’s findings. One set of questions, he hinted, involves “two extremely important assertions that could have the effect of an atomic bomb in Armenia,” without elaborating.
“There are many questions regarding [Pashinyan’s] strategic decision-making and staffing policy,” Manukyan told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service, insisting the all-pro-government commission still failed to “whitewash and put angel wings” on the prime minister. He declined to say whether he believes that is why the report was blocked from floor debate.
Kocharyan denies missing any deadlines and continues to demand that the report be placed on parliament’s agenda. Commentators speculate the blockade is meant to avoid reopening public scrutiny of the government’s conduct during the six-week war, which left at least 3,800 Armenian soldiers dead. Opposition leaders maintain Pashinyan’s policies paved the road to war and that he bears primary responsibility for its outcome.
Manukyan also disclosed the report bears the signatures of four of the six Civil Contract–affiliated members of the commission. The remaining two members could not be reached for comment.
