Staffing Issues in the Armed Forces Remain Unresolved, Yet Military Service Term is Being Shortened: Tigran Abrahamyan

The Secretary of the 'Honorary' faction in the National Assembly of Armenia, Tigran Abrahamyan, has reported that staff reductions are being made within the Armenian Armed Forces. 'I don’t know the exact number; that is, of course, confidential information, but we are talking about several thousand people. I want to talk about the scale of the situation,' he said during a conversation with journalists in the National Assembly, addressing the government’s initiative to reduce the mandatory military service term from 2 years to 1.5 years, which is planned to be implemented for the summer recruitment of 2026.

He recalled that various officials from the Ministry of Defense, along with government representatives, had previously discussed the issue of serious staffing problems in the Armed Forces, particularly in the context of discussions on the proposal for 'buying out' of military service. 'How is it that in just a few months these complex staffing issues have been resolved in the country, and on the contrary, an opportunity has arisen for further reduction of personnel in the Armed Forces?' Abrahamyan questioned. He also highlighted that, despite these changes, the issue of armament and military equipment from Azerbaijan continues unabated.