We Will Have Border Troops, We Will Have Permanent Troops: Vitaly Balasanyan

“Azerbaijan is loudly declaring that Artsakh is part of Azerbaijan, which is far from reality. There are areas where the Azerbaijani armed forces have violated borders, but that is temporary. I want to inform our people that there will be border clarifications and there will be questions regarding our status. The regions that have remained under Azerbaijani control will be returned. I want to give our people hope and assure them that we will carry out these tasks,” said Vitaly Balasanyan, Secretary of the Security Council of Artsakh, in an interview with Artsakh Public Television.

Balasanyan added that there is a need to replenish the troops in Artsakh. He called on the people for active participation in military building, stating, “These individuals will be paid on a contractual basis and will receive high salaries. We need to move to border guard service. We will have border troops, and we will have permanent troops. The Defense Army will be subordinate to the Security Council. We will have a contractual reserve and a militia. The militia consists of individuals over the age of 40-50. Let no one doubt that Azerbaijan or Turkey will not allow us to have Armed Forces in the Republic of Artsakh,” he said.

Continuing his remarks, Balasanyan noted, “We will have our own Armed Forces, a police structure with reinforced units, and a national security service with reinforced units. The issue of conducting anti-terror operations will be raised, as it cannot be ruled out that terrorist activities may recur in the territory of the Republic of Artsakh, which we will not allow.”