Serving in Armenia’s Armed Forces is Becoming Dangerous: Manukyan

“I am horrified of the incidents taking place in the army — three deaths in five days,” opposition Pan-Armenian National Movement (HHSh) party leader Aram Manukyan told journalists today, immediately adding that in no way does he want to use that to strengthen the opposition’s playing cards.

“This is a catastrophe for Armenia — no matter who’s in power. In this state, during this time,190 people were killed in a time of peace in three years. This means that it becomes dangerous for a person to serve in Armenia; this means that the army’s combat readiness is dropping; this means that during serious cases, during military action, the people, citizens, and parents will do everything for their child not to serve in the army. This has a direct impact on Armenia’s national security. It’s the loss of serious merit. This government is doing nothing in the face of these losses. In doing nothing, this government has only one way to go and that’s to resign,” he said.

Referring to speeches he’s made in the past 4–5 months, Manukyan said he considers the country’s number one problem to be emigration — a real national tragedy — “but the phenomenon of victims of army perversions in the past month even surpassed this. It came and secured the dominant place in our problems.”