Is the footage authentic or premeditated?
A video entitled "The True Face of Army" was posted on Youtube last week depicting how soldiers are beaten and mocked of by their superiors.
On September 13, A1+ conducted a poll in Yerevan streets to know our citizens' opinion on the video. Most of A1+'s respondents had seen or heard about the humiliating video. Some denounced the footage saying it was imitated to discredit the Armenian army; others criticized the army officials calling them "soulless monsters."
"Discipline in the army is far from being perfect. These incidents should not be repeated," a Yerevan citizen said commenting on the footage.
"The situation in the army has always been concerning. In fact, nothing has changed since the 1990s when the Armenian army was established," said Armen Vardanyan.
"We need new army officers as the acting ones are not "fit to service," said Karlen.
"The video saddened me and I felt pity for our guys. I couldn't even watch the footage till the end," said Armenuhi Gasparyan.
"Such phenomena must be prevented in the army not to become a subject of speculations. My son is serving in the army and as a parent I was panicked. Anyway, I think that people should not fear and evade military service," said Sedrak Grigoryan.
There were also citizens who did not believe in the authenticity of the video.
"I think that the video was mounted and aims to dishonour our army. My son is serving in Karabakh and he is very content with his military unit," said Anna.
Hovhannes Mkrtchyan noted that thousands of videos can be circulated about the army life but people should not believe them.
"There is no country without problems and shortcomings. But if the footage were real, we wouldn't have the mighty army we have today," he said.
Armenia's Defense Ministry strongly issued a statement Sunday condemning the preparation and premeditated dissemination of the video which aims to discredit and dishonor the Armenian army.
"The Defense Ministry of the Republic of Armenia will take relevant measures to find out the authenticity of the video, the identity of those featured in it, the authors [of the video] and to punish those who exercised violation," reads the ministry's statement.
