LHK Proposes Enrolling Men Aged 45 and Older in Contract Military Service

The Parliament is discussing the draft law on amendments to the law on "Military Service and the Status of Servicemen" in the first reading. Edmon Marukyan, the leader of the "Enlightened Armenia" faction, presented that the draft proposes to involve men aged 45 and older in contractual military service.

According to him, the need for the draft arose when they were approached by participants of the war, Armenian citizens who are over 45 years old but have combat experience and are healthy, yet legislation prohibits them from being involved in contractual military service.

The deputy informed that under the current legislation, there is no opportunity to serve as a contractual serviceman after the age of 45. “The draft has been discussed in the Standing Committee on Defense and Security of the National Assembly, and although the Government gave a negative conclusion, the committee provided a positive conclusion on the condition that the proposals of the committee and the government will be discussed and accepted,” he noted.

Edmon Marukyan stated that they have proposed to set the upper limit for contractual military service at the age of 63, but the committee indicated that such a threshold is too high. “We are ready to discuss any age limit above 45, for example, it could be set at 55 or 58, but I believe that men from border communities should be allowed to defend their land and receive a salary,” said Marukyan.