Lawmaker: Armenian citizens can still volunteer to serve in Karabakh

PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenian citizens can still volunteer to serve in the Nagorno-Karabakh army, lawmaker from the ruling My Step bloc Andranik Kocharyan has said in an interview with Armtimes.com.

Kocharyan's comments came amid uncertainty surrounding the fate of the Defense Army of Artsakh (Karabakh). Residents fear the armed forces are going to be disbanded, but officials claim the army is being reorganized and restructured. Then presidential spokesman Vahram Poghosyan said Friday, February 5 conscription in Karabakh will most probably last shorter than two years, and a professional army will be established.

Kocharyan now says that Armenia, as a guarantor of Artsakh's security, must be informed about the decisions being made in the Defense Army.

The lawmaker also weighed in on possible reforms in Armenia's army and said the country should create one that meets the requirements of the 21st century: "A special purpose army with fantastic weapons and a great intellectual ability."

"We should strive for that now, we should have always strived for that. Since the 1994 ceasefire, we should not have kept screaming that we are the most combat-capable army in the world․ We should have done our best to at least match our capabilities to those of the enemy, so that we could protect our rights during hostilities," Kocharyan said.