We Will Have a Much Worse Situation in Shurnukh, Vorotan, and Bardzravan: Abrahamyan

During 2021, in addition to Azerbaijani provocations and cases of abduction at the border, there were also non-commissioned deaths in the Armed Forces due to non-combat circumstances, meaning non-battle losses. This was stated by Tigran Abrahamyan, a member of the 'We Have Honor' parliamentary faction, during a press briefing with parliamentary factions.

'It became clear during the parliamentary four-day session that the Minister of Defense is unaware of how many combat losses occurred in the Armed Forces in 2021. The second issue I want to highlight is that it has been factually confirmed that, for example, we had a missing contracted serviceman in November 2021, of whom the state agency reported nothing, and everything is being done to ensure that such cases do not receive publicity. Any information that is not pleasing to the government may lead to the initiation of criminal cases. There are problems within the armed forces that obviously should not be openly discussed, there are topics that should not be publicized, but the authorities are taking advantage of this to shut down the entire system and withhold any information.'

Abrahamyan emphasized that the aforementioned problems affect not only society but also the families and relatives of the servicemen. 'I am personally involved in numerous cases where there are violations of servicemen's rights that are not made public; moreover, people who have long years of service face many issues.'

Referring to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's announcement regarding reforms in the Armed Forces, Abrahamyan noted, 'The modernization of the Armed Forces has no alternative; the issue, however, is that no real process is taking place. Two critical issues in our post-war situation are the restoration of the Armed Forces, and secondly, the new situation created around us, which necessitates the modernization of the Armed Forces. But we have a situation where, since November 9, successive Ministers of Defense have stated that a concept for military reforms is being developed, but over a year has passed without any concept. Furthermore, the 2022 military budget does not address military reforms. In reality, no serious reforms are being implemented.'

When discussing the status of Artsakh and the negotiations of previous years concerning Pashinyan's statements, Abrahamyan mentioned that Pashinyan attempts to justify the Azerbaijani claim to Artsakh through these equivalencies. 'What Nikol Pashinyan presents in all his recent statements is either distorted or does not conform to reality. The points he presents as supposed details of negotiations or specific phases are distorted.'

Regarding the mirror withdrawal of Armenian and Azerbaijani troops, Tigran Abrahamyan emphasized, 'The Foreign Minister stated during the Q&A session with the government that this should be based on Soviet maps, but it has not yet been clarified to which period these maps belong. The mirror withdrawal is already problematic; there should have been clear preconditions regarding the withdrawal of Azerbaijani forces. If this 3 km mirror withdrawal also applies to Armenia, then as a result, you will lose a large number of settlements that will at that stage be in a neutral zone; however, it cannot be excluded that in another phase, they may fall under Azerbaijan's control. This not only concerns Shurnukh and Vorotan but also Tegh, Aravus, and several other settlements; we could also see similar situations in the Gegharkunik region. I do not see a favorable process for us.'

To the question 'Who will the 'We Have Honor' faction nominate for president and which forces are they planning to work with on this issue?', Abrahamyan replied, 'We Have Honor will work with real opposition forces on this issue. Currently, there are no confirmed candidates; we do not have a confirmed stance in the National Assembly to nominate a candidate or not. We will provide clarifications on this matter soon.' Abrahamyan ruled out any collaboration with the authorities on this matter.