Armenian defence minister pleased with army’s combat readiness

Golos Armenii, Yerevan
9 Dec 04

Armenian Defence Minister Serzh Sarkisyan has said that he is pleased
with the current level of the army’s combat readiness, although there
are many problems that should be settled. In a hotline with the
readers of Golos Armenii newspaper, Sarkisyan said that all experts
assess the state of the Armenian army as normal. The defence minister
also pointed out that the number of personnel in the army is very
high, which is quite a heavy burden for the country. Armenia is
taking measures to set up a professional army, although it is
connected with great expenses, he said. He also said that the decision
to send a military contingent to Iraq was correct and denied that
Armenia will sign a an unfavourable peace agreement with
Azerbaijan. The following is an excerpt from Lana Mshetsyan, Tigran
Mirzoyan and David Arutyunyan report by Armenian newspaper Golos
Armenii on 9 December headlined “For a great number of young men to
serve in the army is a holy duty”. Subheadings have been inserted
editorially:

Hotline with Defence Minister Serzh Sarkisyan.

Superpowers must find a common language

[Ashot Yesayan, teacher] Observers are talking about the weakening of
the influence of the Russian factor in Georgia, Ajaria and Ukraine. In
this connection, to what extent are we continuing to rely on the
Russian factor, especially in the peaceful settlement of the Karabakh
conflict and the stability and security of the whole region?

[Serzh Sarkisyan] Hundreds of circumstances affect the settlement of
the Karabakh issue. In this context, any changes may affect it
positively, as well as negatively. We do not want the region to be
crossed by separating lines. Nor do we want the countries of our
region to talk to each other from the position of force. It is
desirable for us that the superpowers find a common language with each
other and do not divide spheres of influence. Only then, will there
favourable conditions for Armenia. We have never tried to join various
military and political alliances to the detriment of Russia as our
neighbours do. We have always said that we are conducting an Armenian
national policy, and our cooperation with NATO is never to the
detriment of cooperation with Russia. Unfortunately, not everybody
accepts the policy of complementarity.

[Passage omitted: Sarkisyan said that young men who earlier avoided
military service may pay a certain sum and avoid criminal
accountability. The National Assembly adopted this law in order to
allow those who left the country and did not do their military service
to return to Armenia. Sarkisyan said that there is no corruption in
the Defence Ministry]

[Norayr Avakyan, sociologist] Azerbaijan is doing its best to prevent
Armenian servicemen from participating in NATO programmes. What do you
think is the reason for such an uncompromising and unacceptable
attitude from our neighbours?

[Sarkisyan] I would not say so. In any case, Azerbaijan is not doing
that openly. But Azerbaijan wants Armenia to be defeated wherever
possible. If for instance our country does not cooperate with NATO and
the USA and their attitude towards Armenia changes, Azerbaijan likes
that. Another thing is when events are held on their territory. In
that case, they are really doing everything possible not to let the
Armenian party participate in them. There are many reasons for
this. One of them is that Azerbaijan lost the war and naturally, the
authorities should do something to justify themselves before their
people. For this reason, even an ordinary trip to Azerbaijan by a
journalist of Armenian descent causes problems.

[Karen Avakyan, teacher] There are rumours in the Azerbaijani press
about the possible extradition of Ramil Safarov [Azerbaijani officer
charged with killing an Armenian officer in Budapest] to
Azerbaijan. Is that possible?

[Sarkisyan] I cannot speak on behalf of the Hungarian authorities and
guarantee that Safarov will not be extradited to Azerbaijan, though
there is no agreement on extradition between Hungary and
Azerbaijan. In any case, the Armenian authorities are doing everything
possible to ensure an impartial trial and get the criminal to be
punished appropriately.

[Marina Saakyan, musician] Are you going to run in the next
presidential elections?

[Sarkisyan] It is too early to speak about this. Of course, I
understand people’s interest, but I have not even thought about it
yet.

Pleased with the army’s combat readiness

[Areg Meliksetyan, student] How do you assess the combat readiness of
the Armenian army at present?

[Sarkisyan] The defence minister cannot objectively reply to this
question. However, I should say that there are several parametres for
determining the combat readiness of an army in the world. These are
exercises where troops learn to fight, and inspectors assess their
condition and inspect real hostilities. Today all experts assess the
state of our army state as normal. I think this is the highest mark. A
group of inspectors under the president of Armenia always inspects
military units. Both the Armenian president and I familiarize
ourselves with their results. Their estimations are normal. Certainly,
there are shortcomings as well. I am always greatly interested in
familiarizing myself with these papers: individual officers and units
are assessed there. Such information is very useful when making
decisions on personnel policy. There is one more factor. Our small
platoon is in Kosovo, it is taking part in peacekeeping operations
there and we get excellent comments on its work. One more unit took
part in the NATO exercises in Yerevan last year – and again we had a
positive response. Together with the Russians, we are also taking part
in the bilateral and multilateral exercises where we are also highly
rated. In any case, I am pleased with the current level of the combat
effectiveness of our army, although there are many problems that
should be settled.

Big army “heavy burden”

[Ashot Saakyan, builder] Is the military and political leadership of
our country considering measures to overcome the negative consequences
of the social and economic situation of the early 1990s, which can
seriously affect the fighting efficiency of the armed forces? First of
all, I mean the fall in the birth rate, and as a result, the permanent
fall in the number of conscripts, as well as the sharp fall in the
level of conscripts’ educational and physical training.

[Sarkisyan] Certainly, this problem worries us a lot. It is difficult
to raise the birth rate and literacy in a short period of time. But
these problems are beyond the army’s responsibility. I should say that
at present, the number of personnel in the army is very high for peace
time and this is quite a heavy burden for our people (let the people
and army forgive me). If we settle relations with our neighbours, the
number of personnel in the army will definitely be reduced by three or
four times. In that case, we shall have a chance to choose and the
army will be replenished only with educated soldiers and officers. In
any case, we will still keep the existing number of personnel in the
army and the level of fighting efficiency for a long period of
time. This problem cannot be settled tomorrow or during the next
conscription campaign. At the same time, we are taking specific
measures. First, we are trying to settle the education problems of
soldiers and officers in the army by organizing different short-term
and long-term courses. We also have military units with so-called
schools where soldiers can get secondary education. But our main
resource are those who serve in the army under contract. A
professional army is the shortest way to settle this problem. But
today Armenia cannot have a professional army as it is connected with
very large expenses. For this reason, we are creating contract units,
i.e. some elements of a professional army, and trying to keep up our
fighting efficiency. Today we have many units of the sort, especially
in the border regions. There is such a unit in Yerevan – a
peacekeeping battalion. At present, 3,500 women are serving in the
army under contract. Civilians also work in the army wherever
possible. This allows us to settle the social problems of the
population on the one hand and purely military problems on the other.

In parallel, we are working with the Education Ministry and Sports
Committee to restore the patriotic and physical training system. The
main vector of the problem should be directed towards schools. I would
like to mention specially our joint work with the Health
Ministry. This is the first time that we have started medical
examinations of young men below the age of conscription. In 2004, we
started work to satisfy the health needs of servicemen’s family
members (including active military service soldiers).

[Svetlana Yagubyan, pensioner] What is your attitude towards the
activity of the Armenian Pan-National Movement [APNM] and the rumours
about [Armenian ex-President] Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s return to big-time
politics?

[Sarkisyan] I do not think the APNM has become very active. The former
ruling party is always active. As for the rumours about the return of
the first president to politics, they mean just what they mean. He has
answered this question himself.

[Passage omitted: Sarkisyan thinks that it is high time to set up an
effective centre in Armenia that could coordinate the actions of all
the components of the national security system, including the army,
collect and analyze information]

Armenian military contingent in Iraq

[Manuk Yesayan, chemist] Several months have passed since the signing
of a memorandum with Americans on sending an Armenian contingent to
Iraq. Today the problem is finally being solved. Despite the protests
of society and the request of the Iraqi Armenians, you still think
that sending an Armenian contingent to Iraq is a justified necessity?

[Sarkisyan] Yes, I think we have to do it. Even if we sustain losses
if our contingent is sent to Iraq, they will be less than if we keep
out of these processes. Moreover, people who will go there will be
volunteers. They will sign a contract and will be paid well. We have
never intended to send there active service soldiers. We do not have
such plans in the future either. Servicemen under contract, drivers,
doctors and sappers will be send to Iraq. Second, I would like to say
that we have not reached any agreement either with the Americans,
Poles or somebody else to send our military contingent to Iraq. Third,
UN resolution No 1546 of 8 June 2004 places emphasis on continuing the
world community’s support for the transitional processes taking place
in Iraq whose main goal is to establish stability and security in the
region. Different countries are taking part in stabilization in Iraq
in different ways.

[Passage omitted: Other details]

Taking into account that there is an Armenian diaspora, spiritual and
culture centres in Iraq and they have traditionally friendly relations
with the people of Iraq, Armenia refrained from participating in the
hostilities within the coalition forces, trying to prevent possible
negative consequences for the Armenian community of Iraq. Instead,
Armenia chose not a military, but a humanitarian option for
participating in the problems of Iraq.

The number of accidents in the army is falling

[Ara Saakyan, philologist] According to statistics, the number of
accidents in the army has fallen. Each of such accidents is not only a
tragedy for an individual family, but also undermines the authority of
the army and creates unwillingness to serve in it.

[Sarkisyan] I absolutely agree. Indeed, the number of such accidents
is falling from year to year, but they still happen. This year 36
active military service soldiers died or were killed. I have to say
that this figure is several times lower than several years ago. I am
sure that the number of such incidents will fall in the
future. Although no explanations, references and objective
circumstances can lessen the sorrow of parents who have lost their
son. But this does not mean that we are pleased with these figures. We
have been working and are continuing to work in this direction. I
would like to say that we conduct public opinion polls from time to
time and there is a big number of young men who consider military
service to be their holy duty. It is these people that our army relies
on.

[Samvel Rustamyan, biologist] What can you say about Azerbaijan’s
permanent threats to settle the Karabakh conflict in a military way?
How real are these threats and is our army ready to repel them?

[Sarkisyan] Our army is ready to defend our independence and the
borders of our country. As for Azerbaijan, we can understand their
arrogance as they are trying to calm down their people in this
way. What else are they to do? I have never ruled out that Azerbaijan
might resume the hostilities, but I do not see any threat of war in
the near future.

[Passage omitted: Sarkisyan is talking about privileges for war
veterans. He said that in 2005, the pensions of war veterans will
increase by 20 per cent. Sarkisyan also said that Turkey must
recognize the Armenian genocide]

No defeat in Karabakh talks

[David Amirkhanyan, musician] Defeat in the negotiating process on the
Karabakh issue settlement and the signing of an unfavourable agreement
with Baku – these subjects are being touched upon more actively
again. What is going on?

[Sarkisyan] There is some similarity between today’s situation and
what was happening in 1992. I do not quite understand this fuss. I am
always ready to listen to fair criticism, but what is this
Schadenfreude for? There are no grounds for this. In 1992, they were
screaming that Karabakh has been sold or lost, but everybody saw for
himself that this was not true. Today I do not see real facts
testifying to our possible defeat in the negotiating process. All talk
about documents that have allegedly been signed is wide of the mark. I
can say with certainty that no document will be signed beyond the
three principles announced by the president of Armenia – Karabakh
cannot be part of Azerbaijan, Karabakh must have a full land link with
Armenia (not a “path” as many ill-wishers say) and Karabakh must have
serious security guarantees, including the guarantee that the war will
not resume.

[Passage omitted: Possible instability in the country may affect the
army’s fighting efficiency]

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress