"ARMENIA WILL NEVER BECOME SWITZERLAND"
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28 January, 2008
"Despite all interior conflicts and discords, we all rely on the army
to defend the country from outer influence. We cannot underestimate
the role of the army," presidential candidate and former Defense
Minister Vazgen Manukian said today.
Vazgen Manukian told the history of the formation of the Armenian army,
and how the Armenian army formed from squads of volunteers.
Manukian says the Sumgait events served as an impetus for the army
formation. "At that time we relied on the Soviet Union to protect
our country. But we saw that they cared only for themselves."
Vazgen Manukian Armenia will never become Switzerland which needs
no army because Armenia is located in such a region as the Caucasus
which has a different mentality and different relations between the
countries. He says regional integration might come true in several
decades but before that Armenia’s security requires a powerful and
effective force.
Certainly, Manukian disagrees with the other extremity that the only
guarantee for the country’s security is a strong and effective army.
Vazgen Manukian says security will be guaranteed by the solution of
not only military but also civilian issues.
Among the necessary components of the army Vazgen Manukian enumerates
not only the number of the personnel, the amount and types of weapon,
but also the psychological climate and morale of the society as well
as a competitive economy. In this sense, Vazgen Manukian says we were
stronger than Georgia and Azerbaijan in the early 1990s, when Georgia
had no armed force at all, and we defeated the Azerbaijani army. "We
remain strong, but the outlining tendencies are worrying," he says.
The tendencies are important. After all, an army is the continuation
of the state to some degree. Without a satisfactory economy, without
a big budget, without a healthy psychological climate you are sure
to suffer losses, Vazgen Manukian says. He says in this sense the
tendencies are really worrying.
By the way, the presidential candidate thinks the duration of the
military service should be cut from two years to 18 months first
then 12 months, and a professional army should be set up in parallel
because the war in Karabakh showed that a professional soldier can
replace ten conscripts.
"People must serve in the army with pride and respect and not out of
fear. Corresponding atmosphere should be secured for it," he added.