Most likely, there are people in Armenia and in Armenian communities abroad who have a carefree mood, who think that there is no danger of a war in Syunik, and for whom Aliyev’s threats to ‘open the Zangezur corridor’ by using force if necessary are just baseless words. But basically everyone in Armenia, regardless of their political views, understands that the danger of continuing the war, this time in the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia, is quite real.
There is another argument, and this one is quite widespread; allegedly, ‘the Russians will help us,’ ‘the Iranians won’t let it happen,’ etc. That is simply confusion. Perhaps on paper, perhaps legally, they are obligated to provide us with military assistance, but that is impossible in today’s situation according to simple political logic. Therefore, the Armenian Armed Forces and border guards must carry out the responsibility of making Armenia’s borders invincible. But only them, only agencies representing the state. All other discussions about fidayis, volunteers, and hayduks are late by at least a century. Several arguments can be brought against such initiatives. I will present three of them.
We saw how the last war went. For the most part, it was technological. A ‘fidayi’ with a gun or a rifle on his shoulder cannot play a decisive role here. In modern warfare, the enemy’s manpower and military equipment are determined in advance (including from space) and destroyed by technical means. And defense are used against it, which are not similar to a gun or rifle.
The Hayduk-style private initiative (however sincere) will only complicate the situation. We have already seen that self-governing, uncoordinated detachments have at least not been of any use. No matter how poor-quality and failed the current authorities are, it is not worth disturbing the state in all cases. And, in the future, the National Assembly must adopt clear legislation on the activities of reservists and others in state structures in such cases.
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Knowing the strange character of these authorities, to put it mildly, one can predict that in case of any failure, the Prime Minister will blame the volunteers as well. He will say that they did not fight well, they gave in here, fled there, they were not brave, and so on. It is better for the generals to plan military operations, preferably without Pashinyan’s moderation.
Aram Abrahamyan
