Armenian MP: People do not want their children to serv

By Azernews

By Rashid Shirinov

Armenia sees continues fall in the human recourses, while the figure reduces by 100,000 every year.

Deputy Chairman of the Armenian National Congress faction, representative of the Congress PPA election bloc Aram Manukyan said this at a meeting with voters in the Armenian town of Hrazdan.

Manukyan drew the attention of public to deaths in the Armenian army, putting a special emphasis on non-combat deaths.

"Only last year 160 people died. People do not want their children to serve in the army. Thousands of guys living outside of Armenia should return to serve in the army, but they are not allowed to come," said Manukyan.

The statistics of non-combat losses of the Armenian Armed Forces continues to grow steadily. Armenian media state that a total of 206 deaths were recorded in the Armenian army from 2010 to 2015, and a considerable part of them, 48, were suicides, while 43 were murders.

As for 2016, a total of 162 deaths were registered in the Armenian Armed Forces, including 51 cases in non-combat conditions.  

Frequent death cases, violence, brutality, and non-obedience reign in the army of the Former Soviet republic.  Tough economic condition in the country limits Armenian government's opportunities to modernize its army and ensure its growth. Instead, the government is faced with protests and disagreements among people who are unwilling to do their military service. Many youth flee abroad so that not to serve in the army.

Manukyan also touched upon the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict at the meeting in Hrazdan, saying that a treaty will save Armenia.

“Metamizole [pain reliever] is a very bitter medicine but we drink it. Such is our reality. The signing of peace will be Metamizole," Manukyan said.

Azerbaijan's internationally recognized Nagorno-Karabakh territory became a conflict zone following Armenia's aggression in the early 1990s. As a result of Armenia's armed invasion, 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory fell under Armenia's occupation and over 1 million people turned into refugees and IDPs.

Armenia still controls fifth part of Azerbaijan's territory and rejects implementing four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts.

The continuing aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan, its territorial claims to neighboring country has lead to Armenia’s being locked out of all regional projects and fails to gain any benefits. Azerbaijan has repeatedly announced that as long as Armenia does not put an end to its aggressive policy, its participation in any regional project will be impossible.

Despite the constant efforts of Azerbaijan to put an end to the conflict, the Armenian government, on the contrary, is doing its utmost to postpone the negotiation process and to preserve the status quo in Nagorno-Karabakh.