What The Hell’s Happening With The Armenian Army?

Raise your hands if you’re from Armenia!

I’ve got to admit, I’ve not had much exposure to Armenia. I don’t know a lot about the culture, or the economy, or the history. It’s what I love about writing this blog, I get to learn new things and share them with people. And today, I’ve found something quite interesting about Armenia.

The army is seriously messed up write now.

You’d think that most of the deaths in the army would be from military struggles, right? Maybe a bit of friendly fire here and there, or an accident with a faulty bit of weaponry? Or, in Armenia’s case, someone getting caught in the shooting that breaks out on the border with Azerbaijan every now and then (that’s a whole other level of messy relationships right there).

But nope.

Since the start of this year, Armenia’s armed forces have lost thirteen servicemen from health problems and suicide. The people who are willing to risk their lives for their country are suffering so badly that they don’t need enemies willing to kill them.

The Prime Minister has finally caught on and is trying to fix the problem. He’s fire the Military Police Chief, Artur Baghdasaryan, and the Head of the Army’s Personnel Department, Aleksan Aleksanyan, as well as the National Security Service Chief, Artur Vanetsyan, and the Chief of Police, Vallery Osipyan.

That’s a lot of people to replace in some very demanding positions.

But it really does seem that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has his heart in the right place. He came to power in a peaceful revolution, and is still trying to help fix the problems in the military by getting the right people in charge.

Obviously, the people sacked aren’t too happy. The National Security Service Chief, Vanetsyan, is getting particularly vocal and criticising Pashinyan’s choices, and making sure the complaints are getting into the local media as much as possible.

If I were Prime Minister Pashinyan, I’d be a little concerned.

I think he needs to watch his back, and make some new friends. An angry, potentially vengeful, ex-Security Chief is after him now, and that’s not a good position to be in.