Armenia’s military moves and youth indoctrination A return to expansionist ambitions?

Amidst the clear reluctance of official Yerevan to engage in constructive negotiations, growing evidence suggests that Armenia is not planning to abandon its expansionist past and is gearing up for a potential resurgence. This is evident in the increased armament support Armenia is receiving from France and India.

Shortly after Russian border guards ended their long-standing presence at Zvartnots Airport, two U.S. military transport aircraft, Boeing C-17s, landed there on August 6, delivering various weapons and 30-50 personnel to Armenia. These personnel were equipped with Armenian military uniforms and have been stationed at an Armenian military base in Zangezur. These planes delivered various weapons and a contingent of 30-50 personnel, who are now stationed at the Armenian Armed Forces base in Zangezur, outfitted in Armenian military uniforms.

However, if Yerevan can still formally present the above-mentioned facts as measures to strengthen the defense capability of the Republic of Armenia, the event we will describe below directly demonstrates the revisionist and revanchist essence of the Armenian government. This concerns the opening ceremony of the next season of the summer military-sports camp for young children and teenagers of the terrorist organization "Yerkrapah". By tradition, the new season will also be held in the organization's "Three Generations of Yerkrapah" camp, which has been put into operation since 2015 in Tsovinar settlement of Goychin region.

In Azerbaijan, the organization is considered an outright terrorist organization due to its participation in combat operations in both wars against the Azerbaijani Army. According to Armenian media, during the 44-day war in 2020, 74 Yerkrapah terrorists were killed and 114 others were wounded. This is the same "Yerkrapah", which for many years was commanded by the odious General Manvel Grigoryan, who went down in history under the nickname "Stew-Manvel".

After coming to power, Pashinyan could not leave this organization out of his sight, and therefore appointed his supporter Sasun Mikaelian to lead it.

In order to attract "fresh blood" to its ranks, "Yerkrapah" also conducts trainings for Armenian children, as well as girls and boys, educating them in the spirit of chauvinistic ideology. As a consequence, since recently, namely for the last four years, the organization has been nurturing a spirit of revanchism in its pupils.

But let's return to the ceremony. At the ceremony, along with the national flag of the Republic of Armenia, the "flag" of the annihilated separatist regime was brought to the formation area, and its "anthem" was played.

But if Yerevan recognizes the Almaty Declaration, if it recognizes that Karabakh is Azerbaijan, then logically the police should have come after the organizers of the event and detained them. However, not only did the Armenian government not do this (which is enough to accuse it of revanchism), it also actively participated in the event itself, as will be described below.

The opening ceremony of the camp was attended by representatives of the Armenian government, the leadership of the region, Deputy Defense Minister Arman Sargsyan, Major General Garegin Poghosyan, commander of the 2nd Army Corps of the Armenian Armed Forces, and officers of the Army Corps who conduct military training sessions with the participants. Armenian Deputy Defense Minister Arman Sargsyan said that the ministry is satisfied with the activities of the organization, that cooperation with the organization will continue and that its activities will continue to be supported.

The participants of the event were urged "not to get upset and draw conclusions from the mistakes made". It is also reported that Armenian youth who voluntarily left Karabakh will also join the camp this season, which will be attended by about 1,500 teenagers.

That is, there is no doubt that all these activities are supported in Armenia at the state level. Thus, Yerevan has officially signed that it still has territorial claims to Azerbaijan. And if the reluctance to urgently change the constitution can still be somehow explained by considerations of maintaining internal stability, then the active involvement of the state in actions against the sovereignty of Azerbaijan is clearly considered as a hostile act.

Apparently, Yerevan is taking such desperate steps, encouraged by the support of foreign patrons. Only Yerevan does not take into account the fact that the patrons are far away, while we are close. Perhaps Yerevan is also counting on the fact that by provoking Azerbaijan into military action, it will be able to call American carrier groups to the doorsteps of the Lesser Caucasus, just as the United States is rushing to Israel's aid. Armenia forgets that, first, ships do not sail over mountains, and second, that the country does not face the same existential challenges as Israel. It is safe to say that if the Armenian authorities were a bit smarter, they would have made peace with Azerbaijan first of all, instead of raising the young generation to hate their neighbors.