Monday, March 13, 2023
No Result
View All Result
Asbarez.com
NEWSLETTER
ՀԱՅ
  • Home
  • Top Stories
  • Community
  • Arts & Culture
    • Art
    • Books
    • Music
    • Theatre
    • Critics’ Forum
  • Op-Ed
    • Editorial
    • Opinon
    • Letters
  • Columns
    • By Any Means
    • My Turn
    • Three Apples
    • Community Links
    • Critics’ Forum
    • My Name is Armen
    • Living in Armenia
  • Videos
  • Sports
  • Home
  • Top Stories
  • Community
  • Arts & Culture
    • Art
    • Books
    • Music
    • Theatre
    • Critics’ Forum
  • Op-Ed
    • Editorial
    • Opinon
    • Letters
  • Columns
    • By Any Means
    • My Turn
    • Three Apples
    • Community Links
    • Critics’ Forum
    • My Name is Armen
    • Living in Armenia
  • Videos
  • Sports
No Result
View All Result
Asbarez.com
ՀԱՅ
No Result
View All Result

Senior MP Opposed to Student Draft

by Asbarez Staff
October 17, 2008
in News
0
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

YEREVAN (RFE/RL)–Artur Aghabekian, a retired army general who chairs the Armenian parliament’s committee on defense and security, on Tuesday spoke out against government plans to abolish temporary exemptions from military service enjoyed by university students.

Armenian law allows draft-age men enrolled in state-run universities to perform the two-year compulsory service after completing their undergraduate and/or graduate studies. The government has reportedly drafted legal amendmen’s that will scrap the defermen’s. They have not yet been submitted to the National Assembly and, in particular, its standing committee headed by Aghabekian, who is a member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation’s Parliamentary Faction.

“I am opposed to that,” Aghabekian told journalists. “I did not express my opposition one day or one week ago. I was always against the passage of such a law, even when I occupied the post of deputy defense minister.”

“Having concerns, I have written to the defense minister and the secretary of the National Security Council, urging them to prevent that initiative from becoming a draft law,” he said.

Some Armenian officials have said the measure is needed because Armenia’s conscription-based army will increasingly face personnel shortages as it begins to draft young men born in the early 1990s. The country’s population and birth rate sharply declined during those years because of the collapse of the Armenian economy and the resulting mass out-migration of hundreds of thousands of its citizens.

Critics say scrapping the defermen’s would not be a fundamental solution to the problem. They say that instead of recruiting 18-year-old students, the Armenian military should increase the number of personnel serving on a contractual basis.

Tags: armenian economyarmenian parliamentnational security councilparliamentary factionrfe rl
Asbarez Staff

Asbarez Staff

Next Post

Medvedev Arrives in Yerevan; Armenia, Russia Review Economic Ties Ahead of Summit

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Recommended

Rubio, Carrillo Join California Armenian Legislative Caucus

Rubio, Carrillo Join California Armenian Legislative Caucus

2 hours ago
Lebanese-Armenian Prisoners of War In Azerbaijan: Two Destinies, One Battle

Lebanese-Armenian Prisoners of War In Azerbaijan: Two Destinies, One Battle

2 hours ago

Connect with us

  • About
  • Advertising
  • Subscribe
  • Contact

© 2021 Asbarez | All Rights Reserved | Powered By MSDN Solutions Inc.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Top Stories
  • Community
  • Arts & Culture
    • Art
    • Books
    • Music
    • Theatre
    • Critics’ Forum
  • Op-Ed
    • Editorial
    • Opinon
    • Letters
  • Columns
    • By Any Means
    • My Turn
    • Three Apples
    • Community Links
    • Critics’ Forum
    • My Name is Armen
    • Living in Armenia
  • Videos
  • Sports

© 2021 Asbarez | All Rights Reserved | Powered By MSDN Solutions Inc.