Reducing the length of military service is at least illogical: Military expert

Defense Minister Suren Papikyan announced in a video message posted on Facebook that the winter conscription has begun. From today, conscripts will serve an 18-month term, on the occasion of which the minister congratulated the new draftees.

Commenting on the decision, military expert Hayk Nahapetyan told Aysor.am that “If the term of service is determined by people’s whims, then those people are simply cut off from reality.”

According to Nahapetyan, the duration of service must be defined by the country’s security needs and existing threats.

“The term of service should be determined by the necessity to neutralize and eliminate the security challenges facing the country. First of all, this concerns the protection of territorial integrity, the prevention of encroachments by potential or real adversaries, and averting a possible war,” he noted.

The expert stressed that if the authorities believe security threats have diminished, such an assessment is disconnected from the actual situation.

“If the authorities believe that the threats have decreased, then they are disconnected from reality. I have a different assessment, based on the sharp increase in the armament of the Azerbaijani army, the growth in its manpower, and the acquisition of modern offensive weapons, including fifth-generation fighter jets from Pakistan. These weapons are offensive, not defensive in nature. Accordingly, the term of military service for us should not be reduced, but increased. A reduction could lead to a situation in which we lack sufficient preparedness in the event of an attack by an adversary or an enemy state. Today, we are in a de facto war with two states.”

In this context, Nahapetyan concluded, speaking of a reduction in security threats is unfounded, and reducing the length of military service is, at the very least, illogical.