Absurd to Speak of Armenian Army’s Combat Readiness: War Veteran

It’s absurd to speak of the combat readiness of today’s Armenian army, said commander of the Shushi battalion during the Nagorno-Karabakh War and one of the founders of the Sardarapat civic movement Jirair Sefilian, speaking to journalists in Yerevan today.

Speaking a day before the 20th anniversary of Armenia’s Armed Forces, Sefilian said the hopes he had pinned on the army during the years of the Nagorno-Karabakh War haven’t been justified.

“The army was to have served our country’s foreign and domestic policies. Now the army has become a tool in the hands of the authorities. The example is that they immersed the army in pressuring internal unrest, which can’t be without consequences. I am against the view that the army is society’s mirror. We could’ve created an army that would’ve had only a positive impact on forming society. If heros, and not usurpers, held the high-ranking positions in the army, we would’ve had not only another army, but also a completely different society,” he said.

As for recent incidents in the army and the increase in public attention toward them, Sefilian said he was against both harassment against the army and crimes in the army.

“We have to differentiate the wet from the dry. There’s criticism that’s done to discredit [the army] and there’s criticism that is for improving the army,” he said.