Epress.am News from Armenia
Armenia's president Serzh Sargsyan signed a decree on July 7 appointing Grigori Khachaturov, the son of the Chief of the General Staff of Armenia's Armed Forces Yuri Khachaturov (pictured), Commander of the Defense Ministry Third Army Corps.
Local Haykakan Zhamanak newspaper recalls that Grigori Khachaturov has a long history of controversies, namely, that in 2010 he was scandalously sacked as commander of the Fourth Army Corps for majorly abusing his power. He was, however, soon reinstated in the Ministry, this time as the deputy commander of the Third Army Corps.
In 2013, Nrnak.com wrote that Yuri Khachaturov's son (the name was not specified) had brutally beaten 4 soldiers while drunk. According to the website, three of the servicemen were taken to a hospital in Vanadzor, while the fourth soldier, who was in a particularly severe condition, was rushed to a Yerevan hospital by Khachaturov himself. Artsrun Hovhannisyan, a spokesperson for Armenia's Defense Ministry, subsequently denied this information, calling it an “absolute lie.”