TO THINK INSTEAD OF SAYING, "IT’S QUITE RIGHT"
Gevorg Haroutyunyan

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
15 Oct 2008
Armenia

ARTHUR AGHABEKYAN, Head of the NA Committee on Defense, National
Security and Internal Affairs, yesterday had a meeting with the
journalists in "Hayeli" (mirror) club.

The discussion was devoted to the new draft law "On Defense" which
has been included in the agenda of the upcoming four-day session of
the National Assembly. The former law adopted on June 24, 1997 was
written based on the logic of the former Constitution, the Speaker
said. Therefore, "There has now emerged a necessity of having a new
law ‘On Defense’. The thing is that the Constitution will distinguish
the competences of the President and the Government in the sphere of
defense as well."

According to A. Aghabekyan, the new law clearly defines what
competences the Commander-in-Chief and the executive, Defense Minister
and the General Headquarters have in the sphere. "The former law
implied that the Defense Minister should be a military servant;
however, all our Defense Ministers, except Vagharshak Haroutyunyan,
were civilians. Under the new law, the Defense Minister should be a
civilian and represent the ruling political force.

The decision on declaring a war is made by the President but is
ratified by the Parliament. In this way, the ruling political force =0
D consciously undertakes such responsibility. Under the new law, the
staff of the Ministry should mainly consist of civilian employees. Our
goal is to decrease the number of those who say, ‘it’s quite right’
and increase the number of the human resources who are capable of
thinking and taking initiatives."

Head of the Committee emphasized that after the adoption of the
law, the chief of the General Headquarters should be the person
holding the highest military rank and position. "There cannot be
equalized positions. During the war, all the possible subdivisions
unconditionally comply with the Head of the headquarters and carry
out only his instructions."

Thus, a system of civilian control is being introduced into the armed
forces. The political force striving for power will hereafter not
only introduce social and economic programs but also be obliged to
disclose its attitude towards strategic issues. "Apart from pleasing
the people, the force striving for power is also required to point
out in what way it is going to resist the external challenges, how
it is going to defend the country and the people and what diplomacy
it is going to conduct. Otherwise, we will have forces striving for
power which, however, will never be capable of undertaking and bearing
full responsibility," A. Aghabekyan finds.

Touching upon the Karabakh settlement talks within the frameworks
of the OS CE Minsk Group and the issue of mutual concessions, he
announced, "There are no statements or discussions concerning the
agreement on ceding territories. The NKR armed forces continue to
remain the guarantee for the full protection of all the territories
of Artsakh. During the liberation fights of the 1990’s, there was no
commander who liberated territories with a tendency of returning them
in future. There is no territory either in the southern or northern
direction that has been liberated in order to be returned. But in a
couple of years, I will tell you by all means about the conversation
which I had with Babken Ararktsyan in Fizuli in the autumn of
1994… Much has to be done for that conversation to become just
a memory."

A. Aghabekyan reminded the journalists that the territories were mainly
liberated in 1993, and there was a clear-cut goal, "The minimum task
of all the Commanders was to protect Artsakh from bombing. In the
middle of 1993, this problem was solved on all the fronts and in all
the directions, from the river Araks to the mountain pass of Omar,
as well as along the borders of the Republic of Armenia.

The next principal task was to create a security zone that would make
it possible to organize the defense in the territory of Artsakh. This
meant a frontline extension and a strategic path inside the front. I
find that the liberated territories are not simply a20guarantee of
military security; they also have many other components. At present,
those territories are a guarantee of economic security as well."

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress