Why the Armed Forces of Armenia Are Not Conducting Exercises

The international community has demanded that we find a solution to this issue in a specific format, but we have not been candid; we have said that what we have captured is already ours. This was noted by Andranik Kocharyan, a member of the parliament from the Civil Contract faction and the chairman of the parliamentary committee on defense and security, in an interview with NEWS.am.

"We have not found a peace-promoting solution. We have placed our hopes on the proposals of the co-chairing countries, and they have made such proposals that do not prioritize either side. They said that territorial integrity is paramount, and if you want to self-determine, it must be within the framework of the territorial integrity of the opposing side. That dispute went on until Azerbaijan created an army capable of disrupting the balance of power," he stated.

Kocharyan pointed out that when the Azerbaijani authorities felt a threat after the events in Tavush in June 2020—which suggested they might lose power from within—they decided to launch an offensive with the support of Turkey and Israel.

Referring to the accusations that the Armenian armed forces are not conducting exercises, Andranik Kocharyan said, "We do not want to conduct exercises on paper; this will be done when a specific phase of our military reforms is completed, and the appropriate structures will carry out drills related to the skills aimed at solving tomorrow's security issues. That is why we are not conducting exercises. People ask why the soldier's uniform is old. But why didn't you manage to change the uniform? It's not an easy issue because we have decided to have the best in everything—good uniforms, good weapons, and well-educated commanders."