By Reducing the Mandatory Military Service Period from 2 to 1.5 Years, the Government Aims to Solve 3 Problems: MP

The government has put forth a bill to reduce the mandatory military service period from 2 years to 1.5 years, which is slated to be implemented starting from the summer conscription in 2026. This was announced by Tigran Abrahamyan, the secretary of the 'Honorable' parliamentary faction, on his Facebook page.

As justification for the bill, it is stated that 'in recent years, effective measures have been taken to expand contract military service, such as the “Defender of the Fatherland” program, the establishment of a professional sergeant system, the introduction of a testing system for military personnel, and the organization of contract military service while preserving military pensions for long-term service in border units.'

However, the government’s 'justification' in terms of active recruitment does not correspond to reality, as over the past four years thousands of reservists and representatives of the Yerevan City Council have had to be involved each year for combat duty and other combat-related tasks.

I would advise those responsible not to insist that the gathering of reservists is solely for training and retraining purposes because the main goal of these gatherings—amidst the difficulties of recruitment—is to ensure the fulfillment of combat duties.

Regardless of how active the inclusion of military service under the 'Defender of the Fatherland' program may be, the state is still far from overcoming the overall issues of recruitment.

In this context, the government is attempting to solve three problems: 1. To perform a pre-election 'trick' by trying to turn the reduction of the army into an election vote; 2. To reduce the army, justifying future concessions as a result of the state's inability; 3. Simply to meet Azerbaijani demands by assuring that Armenia has no intention of resisting or fighting.

I understand that this position may not be popular with many and that some will disagree openly while others will remain silent. However, what matters to me are our country’s national and state interests, our people’s security, and I will continue to insist that this bill represents a significant blow to the state from within, which will further exacerbate our security issues,” he wrote.