Soldiers Are Living in Tents and Open Areas, While the Enemy Sees Prehistoric Vulnerability and Breaches the Border: Avetik Chalabyan

“We cannot resist the enemy with a broken security system; we must restore that system,” announced Avetik Chalabyan, co-founder of the “Arar” foundation, during parliamentary hearings initiated by the “Armenia” faction. He added that implementing border demarcation without a peace agreement is premature and contrary to the interests of Armenia.

“Implementing border demarcation without a peace agreement will lead to de facto recognition of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity by Armenia based on the Soviet borders of Azerbaijan and, in fact, abandoning the ongoing struggle for the independence of the Republic of Artsakh,” stated Chalabyan.

According to Chalabyan, there is no solution to the Artsakh issue without a balance of power. Azerbaijan will attempt to exploit the executive's repeated mistakes to take territories and impose demarcation.

“If we want to prevent this process, this is only possible under conditions of nationwide mobilization,” he emphasized.

Chalabyan noted that the government is making wrong decisions, and it is crucial to allocate state budget funds for defense. “In these conditions, we need at least a one billion dollar defense budget. If the state allocates 800 million, and the prerequisites are met, the private sector can provide the remaining 200 million,” he stated.

Over the course of five years, according to Chalabyan, it is technically possible in the military sector, particularly in the construction of the army, to achieve results comparable to what Azerbaijan and Turkey have developed in 15 years.

“The last war has had disastrous consequences; the army is demoralized, the best officers are leaving the military, soldiers are surrendering in groups of 30, and positions are not being defended. Soldiers must be provided adequately—they should not be living in tents; they should not be living in open areas. It is not by chance that the border is breached in these areas because it is prehistoric there, and the enemy sees that,” Chalabyan concluded.