RA president: Security of country and people is an absolute value not
subject to tender

2008-01-28 13:44:00

ArmInfo. ‘Today, many speak of the army, even those who did not serve
in the army and have no idea about it and the security’, RA President
Robert Kocharyan said at the presentation ceremony of a group of
servicemen. To recall, the election programmes of a number of the
Armenian presidential contenders contain promises to reduce the Army or
transfer it to the contractual basis.

‘Security of the country and the people is an absolute value, not
subject to a tender. We shall not allow anyone to weaken this
structure. The Army is a guarantee of our statehood’, Robert Kocharyan
emphasized. He also said that Army is the most accomplished structure,
which assures security of pour people, and ‘we intend to assure the
same attitude to it in future’. ‘A strong battle-worthy army is not a
burden for the country’s economy but a guarantee of its stability, a
potential of independence and a source of respect to the country’, the
president recalled and added that today, one third of the Army consists
today of the professional servicemen: officers, ensigns and contract
servicemen. ‘The professional sector of our Army will grow, however the
country’s military potential is assessed by opportunities of the
call-up. Armenia’s security will be in danger without an involuntary
service. It would be absurd to refuse of an involuntary service by the
state being under a direct military threat. If someone made such a
proposal in Israel, it would be a political mock, the president said
and added that Armenia with a strong battle-worthy Army and Armenia
without it are different states with quite different statuses: ‘We
realize that we have a role and we have something to do in the region,
and Army is serious tool for this’.