– Mr. Ohanyan, the troop drafting of this year was the first one for you as a defense minister. There is an opinion that compared to the last year the “recruitment setup” of this year was much more difficult.
– The army recruitment process is developing year by year. Year by year the principle of fairness and justness is even more valued. I, as a chief, have always tried to serve as an example of fairness and justness to others and especially my subordinates. I have set a great objective for myself and that is to increase the transparency of processes related to the army, which cause public concerns. One of those concerns relates to recruitment. The society criticizes a few directions connected with this process – recruitment procedures in the military commissions, medical examination as well as registration at military bases. There are shortcomings in all of the above- mentioned. There are people in all of the circles, who violate the law and take bribes from citizens. And every leader or chief does his best to keep the dignity of the structure he heads in the high level. I strongly believe that it is amoral to earn money at the expense of soldiers. This process must be stopped. Of course, it will be impossible to annihilate the friend- to- friend relationships however everything is done not to turn this relationship into trade. And the management of the army does its best to annihilate these shortcomings. Of course it is very difficult to fight against this process. The whole process of recruitment, post- recruitment and vacation process have been really restricted. We should establish a system, where it will be impossible to violate laws. The society should get convinced that the basis of the recruitment relies on equality and fairness.
– Has the recent tension in the society negatively affected the recruitment process at all?
– The internal society tension indeed affects the recruitment process to a certain extent because on one side we have the state structures and on the other we have the opposition. According to the state social polls of the recent years the credit to the army gradually grows. The parents are most concerned about unfair approach, low level of professional preparation on part of the commanders and finally the conditions of military service in certain bases. A lot of efforts must be made to improve the situation in the mentioned three sectors. One of the most noteworthy achievements of the modern history of Armenia is the army – the guarantor of our security. Everyone should feel proud of the fact that his/her child participates in the strengthening process of the army; they should be proud to send their children to military service. In this regard the army should play a great role to inspire the people to confidently send their children to military service. And our statesmen must serve as an example because very often they are criticized of the fact that their sons have the privilege of not joining the army. We should all become examples. One of my three sons is currently in military service as an officer; the other one had already completed the service after graduating the freshman semester in the university. My youngest son is still young for recruitment but he will join the army by all means.
– You wish to struggle against a corrupt system, which is enrooted for years now and where the people mentioned by you make a “quality.” Do you think you will succeed?
– These people are also part of our society. It is all about the system, which creates such corrupt officials. We will be implementing the anti- corruption program enacted by the RA President. Even if this point was not in the government agenda (which I doubt a lot), I would still fight against these phenomenon.
– There was information publicized in the media, according to which once you were appointed minister of defense you decided to fire certain officials, who you didn’t wish to work with. Is this true and are there still people like that in the system?
– Every leader is trying to work with people that he trusts. In this regard I have done some changes and nothing global. I work in my own way, if the ones, who refuse to obey, become an obstacle; I fire them or offer them a lower rank.
– Mr. Ohanyan, what is the reason of activation on the Azerbaijani- Armenian border and the attempts of violating the cease fire on part of Azerbaijan?
– The incidents, which occurred in Artsakh (means the ones that occurred in March of the current year), had a political motive. The Azerbaijani military tried to benefit from our inner political situation. I should confess that our soldiers did their best to push back the Azerbaijani attack and it turned out to be successful for us.
– There was also an opinion that by attacking the Azerbaijani side was testing its strength. Do you agree with that?
– I think their military leadership presented the wrong picture of their capacity to the country leadership. On that day in that base there was a celebration. The President and the defense minister of Azerbaijan were also invited there. They probably decided to somehow demonstrate themselves. In the meantime they were testing whether they can handle it or not.
– Does this mean that the Azerbaijani side didn’t have an objective to conquer any territory?
– I don’t think that was seriously planned and don’t think they had an intention like that. As of the Armenian side let me mention that the enemy quite often opens fire in the direction of farms located near the borderline. The last case was in Chinari. This case is really concerning because fire was opened at innocent villagers. Of course, our military forces responded back in a successful way. Under these circumstances we should always pressure their first line because they shoot from the first line.
– Recently there was a military parade in Baku, which in the opinion of many people had a purpose to demonstrate military power. In this context how do you estimate the current situation? Do we have any financial calculation to keep the balance of power?
– First their media was saying that the purpose of the parade was to show to Armenia and the world that the Azerbaijani army is the best in the region… But it is one thing to demonstrate it in the capital city and another thing is to do it on the frontline. No matter how much the means of the army are they are not enough for the defense. However, as our president mentioned recently our army will not have any financial difficulties. It is another thing how we are going to use these means for our defense. Of course those means essentially differ from the ones of Azerbaijan. The right analysis should be made and try to maintain the balance of power. We shouldn’t underestimate the enemy as they are also developing especially when Turkey evidently supports them. It seems that their military dominance should create imbalance between us and them but we should remember that we had the same imbalance back in 1992. We always resisted with quality and especially with the moral preparation of our troops, which is always very important. Since 2000 we have acquired quite large reserves of military arsenal and we are able to fulfill the set objectives.
– Today Armenia cooperates with NATO in various formats and programs. How realistic is it for Armenia to have a professional army? By the way, during the presidential elections certain candidates used to state that the conflict can be solved within several years. Is there a state program of creating a professional army?
– At present the RA military forces are implementing the “Military Reforms 2007- 2015” program enacted by the president. In the near future we will have a complex army, which will include professionals and newly recruited ones. Many of the powerful armies of the world are composed that way. The reform also includes increasing the professional and educational level of generals, officers, soldiers, sergeants, etc. It has been five years since we started to establish professional subdivisions.
– You mentioned that you would do your best to annihilate the trade relations between the officers and soldiers or parents. In your opinion will the officer be able to live a decent life with his salary? What is your approach in this regard?
– Just like army financing army salaries are never enough. Good people however always get acquitted. At present the average salary of the officer enables him to meet minimal needs. There are of course many social and accommodation issues – the RA prime minister has assigned to develop a hypothetic credit system for the officers, who don’t have apartments.
– Mr. Ohanyan, during the recent internal political events former soldiers also participated in the protests and part of them is now in prison. They speak a lot about the fact that because of that attitude to them they will never pick a weapon to defend their homeland in the event of war threat. Do you share that opinion as a former soldier and participant of NKR war?
– In any transition or post- war country such situation is created. The fact is that very often the ones, who actually fight the war decease and the others benefit from the victory. The ones, who cannot take advantage of these goods and are kind and honest people, appear to be unemployed. But the ones, who have military objectives, continue their service. There are also people, who are able to keep themselves away from difficulties, such as participating in the war and as a result benefit from the peace. Unfortunately it is so everywhere and our country didn’t avoid it either. However due to the good governance of our country we were able to be in a comparably more favorable plight than other states. The situation is that even the state with its social- economic system cannot provide conditions, where people wouldn’t need anything. In this regard such a behavior, which is good, is also appreciated. As of the question whether people can come back to struggle I think the greatest pre- condition for that is the military and patriotic education of our fellow citizens. We should be able to present the achievements of our new history to the younger generation. By the way, unlike the capital city in Karabakh and borderline areas the level of patriotism and military education is higher. I have numerously mentioned that the example of Israel is perfect for a good society, where there is a very high attitude to the military servants. As of the issue, whether we are prepared to withstand the possible thereat of the enemy I should say that we have advantage here because we have two generations willing to protect our country. Those two generations are first of all us, who will by all means protect the fatherland as well as the young generation, who had joined the army already or ones, who will be recruited.
– How do you think we should organize the process of military patriotic education? What concrete steps must be taken to ensure that the worthy ones don’t appear on the margin and the ones, who don’t deserve, get it all?
– Military and patriotic education should be part of the whole education process of the country. I have mentioned at various occasions that we should have a clear program of increasing the patriotic education level of the population. A great accent should be put on both school and university. In order to make our society civil we need to enforce the laws in the right way, annihilate corruption, bribery and conduct a good staff policy. Everyone should prove that he/she is the one, who he/she speaks of. In this regard, the state bodies should serve as well as the statesmen. No matter how much the opposition complains and criticizes they should ensure that their attitude is changed.