18, 19-Year-Olds Should Not Be on the Frontlines: Gayane Abrahamyan

Former MP Gayane Abrahamyan wrote on her Facebook page: "Since yesterday, we have had our third victim (according to the Ministry of Defense's statement today), all 18 and 19-year-old kids who have barely begun to see life, perhaps have not even had the chance to fall in love... and we express our grief on this platform, we get angry, we scream out of helplessness, and then we move on to our daily problems, while in reality, we need to act. It is no longer acceptable.

Let us unite and demand to mobilize all possible resources, switch to a strict savings mode, eliminate unnecessary expenses that are not CRUCIAL at this moment, forbid any bonuses, establish ONLY CRUCIAL business trips, and spend the main budget resources on the engagement and enhancement of CONTRACTUAL servicemen, while urgently withdrawing conscript servicemen from the frontlines. 18 and 19-year-olds MUST NOT be on the frontlines; we cannot afford to lose an entire generation this way.

We must urgently appeal to international stakeholders to establish security zones along the entire border and to form EU or OSCE monitoring groups, just as was done in Georgia in the key conflict areas. I am not confident that the officials in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Assembly have taken sufficient steps in this direction (yesterday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, yet again, mentioned mirror withdrawals, which over these months has clearly shown to be not only ineffective but also doubles Aliyev's recklessness).

For this reason, I believe we should not just generate anger on this platform and weep, but rather form a PUBLIC DEMAND, organize rallies and gatherings, send letters and petitions demanding the establishment of security zones and the urgent inclusion of monitoring groups.

We can no longer read news about casualties every day; we must act. I know that you might say the demands can be much more, but I have singled out these two as currently entirely realizable and quickly implementable solutions, but feel free to add more."