Armenia’s Minister of Defense, Davit Tonoyan has officially resigned, per the Ministry of Defense of Armenia.
Tonoyan has been replaced by Vagharshak Harutyunyan, an Advisor to the Prime Minister of Armenia.
Tonoyan said that he is ready to “bear his share of the responsibility” for the defeat in the Artsakh war in his farewell message.
As Zartonk Media was informed from press service of the Ministry of Defense of Armenia, the message runs as follows,
“Dear compatriots, comrades-in-arms,
After decades of service in the Ministry of Defense and the executive branch, today I am resigning from the state system.
I sincerely believe that all the ideas that have come to life as a result of the honest and dedicated work of my fellow servicemen during my tenure have a modest contribution to the development and improvement of our country’s defense system. But any summary of my activities is not appropriate today, because that summary inadvertently became the Second Artsakh War. Am I satisfied with my work during the war, in the preparatory phase? I think some conceptual areas need to be revised that I did not manage to implement, in this regard I am ready to bear my share of responsibility.
But I assure you that the entire staff of the Ministry of Defense ված Armed Forces has been guided by the principle of responsibility before the homeland, sparing nothing for the sake of victory, always doing more than the service and labor duty requires. I would like to express my special thanks and respect to these people. We spent tireless, often 24-hour working days together, and not just during this war. And I consider it an honor to have the opportunity to be a part of this fanatical team for many years, which will serve the homeland for a long time to come. My conviction is the same: the Armenian army is strong, it will become stronger.
It is doubly difficult for me to resign at this moment, as I am not in the habit of taking the easy and accepted path to avoid getting into a difficult situation, whether or not to serve the state and the people. I was guided by the same principle in the spring of 2018. But the current situation needs to be eased. And I want my departure to be seen in that logic.
I bow to the memory of our fallen friends and their relatives; I would like to apologize to the people whose hopes were not fully justified. But I do not consider my service to the people over.”
Davit Tonoyan was appointed Defense Minister on May 11, 2018 by PM Nikol Pashinyan three days after he took office. He was recommended to the post by MP Ararat Mirzoyan, who said that Tonoyan was “absolutely qualified to be Armenian Defense Minister.”
