ARMENIAN MP KNOWS HOW TO INCREASE ARMY BY REDUCING MANDATORY MILITARY SERVICE PERIOD
Tert
Nov 2 2009
Armenia
Armenia’s foreign country representations were assigned to meet with
male Armenian citizens living abroad who didn’t serve in the army and
explain to them that they can safely return to Armenia and, meeting
the requirements of law, become full citizens of their country,
Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun, or ARF-D) MP
and Chair of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defense, National
Security and Internal Affairs Hrair Karapetyan stated while speaking
with journalists today.
Today’s press conference was devoted to the draft laws on military
service and military measures presented at the National Assembly.
Stating that male citizens under 27 are liable for mandatory military
service, Karapetyan said that the law provides the opportunity to
individuals in that age group who have incurable illnesses not to
serve in the army.
The MP also stated that people under 45 may also serve in the army on
a contractual basis. He thinks that in order to increase the number
of contract employees, their parliamentary committee, as well as the
defense ministry, must carry out explanatory work.
By this, Karapetyan believes, Armenia goes down the path of shaping a
professional army. "The professional army [that is, contract employees]
can be comprised of more than 50% of the total. In this case, period
of military service will be reduced, and the unemployment issue will
also be solved."