From Blame Game to Army Reform

One of the opposition leaders, Yerevan State University lecturer and founder of the 5165 Movement Menuah Soghomonyan, firmly places the blame on the prime minister, citing Article 155 of the constitution: “We believe that de-facto Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Defense Minister Suren Papikyan are to blame for this tragedy.”

Pashinyan himself has jumped into the foray to do some fence mending and during a speech in Aragatsotn Province, he said, “Some repercussions of the events show that we need to go deeper and understand the problems in their depth, in addition to the superficial problems. … These problems often arise from the lack of willpower to break out of the habit of ‘patching’ the problems.”

This debate boils down to the fundamental question of army reform. The first question that arises is why this unit was accommodated in such primitive quarters, with rudimentary means of heating. After so much bragging about army reforms, this situation flies in the face of the statements of the current authorities, who in this dire condition are conducting a witch-hunt. It was just announced that former defense minister and current member of parliament Seyran Ohanyan and another deputy, Armen Charchyan, are to be tried for illegal accumulation of property and other charges.

The opposition is not playing a constructive role and the government stoops to its level to conduct a farcical street fight rather than run a country facing incredibly difficult choices. Although the 2020 war waged by Azerbaijan set back many reforms, there had been time for those reforms before. For almost five years, Pashinyan’s administration has been blaming the misrule of the “former” regime but not done anything differently.

Even if the army reforms begin today, there are internal and external problems to solve first. Azerbaijan, for one, has warned that it will hamper any effort by Armenia to enhance its armed forces. Russia is refusing to deliver the armaments for which Armenia has already paid and Moscow has many devious ways of undermining army reforms in Armenia now that Yerevan has been looking to the international markets to replenish its military hardware. The deal with India offered good news but drone purchases from Iran may prove to be toxic politically, touching a raw nerve with the US and Israel. In short, Armenia is caught between a rock and a hard place. The West will not sell or supply any armaments as long as Armenia remains a member of the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) but the CSTO refuses to help its member even in the face of attacks.

In the best-case scenario, if armaments were supplied, Armenia would have to develop its own military doctrine. Russian arms and military formations proved to be ineffective during the 2020 war and Armenia does not need to apologize to any party in enhancing its army according to its needs.

Let these deaths not be in vain. The fire that took the lives of 15 Armenian soldiers can serve as a useful if painful lesson to begin reforms in the army and bring it to the level of the country’s needs.