Mobilization of Armed Forces Resources Has Been Intentionally Undermined with Unknown Objectives

In these national mourning days, bowing deeply to the heroic deeds of our brave soldiers, while being deeply concerned about the fates of the missing, yet hopefully awaiting each of them and wishing for the quick return of the prisoners, I would like to draw our people's attention to two important points. This was stated in the announcement by former Minister of Defense Seyran Ohanyan.

“First, after observing the Prime Minister’s mourning march to Yerablur on December 19, I understood that the failure to mobilize resources for universal mobilization and replenishment of military resources in this war with Artsakh was not a consequence of ignorance or inexperience but has been a deliberate act for, to date, unknown purposes. If the Supreme Commander could mobilize the entire administrative resources of the state, including security forces, and ascend to Yerablur amidst unnecessary enthusiasm, applause, and hissing, then why didn’t he mobilize those same resources with the entire state apparatus, personally heading to Artsakh to replenish our soldiers' ranks, which had been thinned out due to his own failures, and create a breakthrough towards victory?”

“And when, even after receiving hints, the Prime Minister did not understand the role of mobilization, where were other institutions—the National Assembly, the government, the territorial administration bodies, the appropriate regional management circles, military registration and enlistment offices—who failed to advise and perform their duties? Are we a state, or just one person?”

“Second, one of the most crucial areas of the daily activities of the Republic of Armenia is the foreign policy that ensures effective international engagement—which means bilateral and multilateral relations with our partner and ally states. Is the state apparatus fulfilling that duty with its leader? After failing to establish bilateral relations with our strategic partner and neighbors, and diminishing our multilateral relations with the CSTO member states, by not participating in the CIS virtual summit and linking the absence of a state-representing official with one person’s personal issues, the current authorities continue to play with the dignity of the Republic of Armenia.”

“Expressing my deep condolences for the death of the Prime Minister’s father (may God bless his soul), a question arises: was there no other official in our state apparatus who could have represented our country with dignity and skillfully participated in discussions, especially to respond to Aliyev’s lies, through which he once again distorts our history, the origins of the Artsakh issue, and the war provocations they initiated against the self-determination of the Armenian people, attributing not only the gross violations of international humanitarian norms by them during the wartime against the peaceful population, the torture of prisoners, and the desecration and destruction of cultural values but also this year's escalations and the large-scale war launched by him, presenting us contemptuously as a weak yet aggressive state?”

“Are we a state, or just one person? This reality leads me to the bitter conclusion that not only the failures of the last two and a half years, our defeat in this war were the results of the ignorant management of state resources and systems but that failures and defeats will be permanent under such ignorant governance, harming the nation. That one official and his team must resign immediately, and a team of professionals must come to power to mobilize the nation when necessary, ensure security, and confidently, courageously, and with dignity represent the state on the international stage.”

P.S. In response to today’s phrase, “Beyond the Tegh village lies Azerbaijan,” I can once again state, deeply disappointed, that it appears the current leader of the power has only the ability to delineate borders between the “former and current,” but he was obligated to be aware that interstate borders can only be defined by intergovernmental documents, only after the acceptance of a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and that too not hastily but after prolonged negotiations, prioritizing the interests of his own state and nation. The unacceptable statement regarding the signing of the ceasefire on November 9 cannot serve as a basis for GPS border delineation,” the announcement states.