army

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Armenia

Army or education? Young men in Armenia face a dilemma

by Armine Avetisyan

•7 min read

The new law on conscription has left many Armenian students stunned. While stressing their commitment to serving the country, many worry that in practice, it will be hard to obtain Master’s degree after three years of non-deferrable military service. ‘I have no intention of escaping from the army’ From 7 to 15 November, the study process of higher education institutions was suspended in Yerevan. The students were protesting. They were protesting for one purpose: they were against the

army

Duty of an only son: to serve the motherland or continue the family name?

by Seymur Kazimov

•7 min read

While throughout the region there are debates around compulsory military service — how it applies to students or if it should apply at all — in Azerbaijan, a different debate is raging. Many are demanding exemptions for only sons in a family, who continue the family name, while most politicians oppose the move, calling it unpatriotic. Rashad Bakhshaliyev was killed while serving in the military during the April 2016 escalation in Nagorny Karabakh. He was the only son in his family. Hi

army

Young Georgian draftees question compulsory ‘guard duty’

by Volodymyr Soboliev

•4 min read

Giorgi Tomadze, a fourth year student at Tbilisi State University, has just been conscripted by the Ministry of Corrections. He finds the idea of military service honourable, but only in theory. In practice, he is not looking forward to working ‘as a prison guard for a whole year with only a 10-day training course during which he will fire six bullets’ — enough to ‘qualify’ him as a marksman and a warden. Tomadze, who was planning to apply for a Masters, is now worried that he will simpl

Analysis

Murders, suicides, and fatal accidents plague the Armenian military [Analysis]

by Volodymyr Soboliev

•4 min read

Human rights in the military is an issue of concern to rights groups around the world. In Armenia, reports by local and international organisations and the US Department of State suggest a concerning situation in the the country’s armed forces. Reports of physical abuse and suicides in the Armenian army are not new. Such incidents are in part connected to a tradition of hazing, known as dedovshchina, which was practiced in the Soviet Army before Armenia regained independence in 1991. Re