Armenian Defence Minister Suren Papikyan has said that Armenian nationals returning from abroad to vote in the 7 June elections could be called up for mandatory military training. His remarks came amidst reports that Russian–Armenians were being organised and transported to Armenia to vote in the elections.
‘If an Armenian citizen arriving from Russia is liable for military service, do they not have obligations to their homeland? Naturally, I cannot rule it out [that they might be sent to military training]. Not only from Russia, but also from France, the US, and so on’, Papikyan said during a Thursday press briefing.
Earlier that day, media reports, including from outlets affiliated with the government, claimed that Military Police officers were handing out notices to Armenian citizens arriving from Russia at Armenia’s border checkpoints.
Though he confirmed the presence of Military Police officers at border checkpoints to carry out ‘functions that they carry out as needed’, Papikyan denied reports that notices were being distributed.
‘There is a procedure for notification. Notifications are normally issued in accordance with that procedure. It is physically impossible to issue a notification [at the checkpoints]. No one can be handed a summons directly at the airport’, Papikyan said.
He added that the actions of the Military Police, as well as other state bodies, ‘may be based on operational information, or within the scope of other functional duties, including the search for wanted persons’.
Government critics characterised the calling up of returning citizens as an attempt by the ruling Civil Contract party to turn military training camps, which are regularly held for Armenian citizens eligible for service, ‘into a punitive tool’.
Arshaluys Barseghyan
The measures came as concerns about Russian interference were further fuelled by a series of apparently leaked documents, which appeared to outline plans to remove incumbent Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan from power through an operation centred on detained opposition leader Samvel Karapetyan, and to bus ‘tens of thousands of Russian–Armenians’ into Armenia to influence the election outcome.
Separately, on Thursday, the Armenian Fact Investigation Platform (FIP) reported that its journalists had posed as officers of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) in conversations with several heads of regional branches of the Union of Armenians of Russia, during which they obtained information regarding efforts to ‘recruit’ Armenians in Russia and organise their transportation to Armenia ahead of the vote.
According to FIP, Arsen Abrahamyan, head of the Armenian community of Russia’s Ulyanovsk, ‘identified four principal forces: those led by Robert Kocharyan, Samvel Karapetyan, Gagik Tsarukyan, and Arman Tatoyan’ as the groups they encouraged people to support.
Arshaluys Barseghyan
Armenian authorities have also recently launched an investigation into allegations that Russian–Armenian blogger Mika Badalyan had offered electoral bribes to ‘hundreds’ of Armenian citizens residing in Russia. Law enforcement authorities said measures were being taken to identify those who allegedly received the payments.
In a video posted on social media, Badalyan claimed that he had helped ‘thousands’ of people who wished to travel to Armenia to vote by resolving transportation-related issues.
At a recent rally, a supporter of Karapetyan told Factor TV that they had arrived from Russia's Kursk region on the same day at their own expense together with another 50–55 people in order to vote in support of Karapetyan.
