Mothers of deceased soldiers call on Nikol Pashinyan to advance compensation payments

At a meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, female relatives of the soldiers who deceased in peacetime demanded to pay them the same compensation as victims of the 2008 riots. According to the Prime Minister, payments are scheduled to be started in a few months.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on September 19, in Yerevan, more than 30 relatives of the soldiers who deceased in peacetime held a protest action with the demand of compensations similar to those paid to victims of the events of March 1-2, 2008.

Margarita Khachatryan, the chair of the coordinating council of the public organization "Soldier", treats the authorities' selective approach as unfair. "Our demand is to ensure that all victims are given equal amounts," she said.

The meeting with Nikol Pashinyan did not produce the desired result, said Satik Khlgatyan, whose husband was killed during combat actions in Nagorno-Karabakh. Mothers and widows of the deceased soldiers do not enjoy any privileges, the woman complains.

Satik Khlgatyan is also unhappy with the principle of compensation. "Payments are due only to the families of the soldiers killed at a military post or disabled while on combat duty," the woman noted.

Nune Akobyan, a mother of Grant Mangasaryan, who was killed in an explosion of a grenade, also believes that the authorities should pay equal attention to the families of all deceased soldiers.