Interview of the Secretary of the Security Council Armen Grigoryan on "Factor TV"

02 / 09 / 2020

The Secretary of the Security Council Armen Grigoryan spoke on Factor TV about the creation of home guardsmen as a key part of civil defense and development of country’s mobilization capabilities, the acquisition and improvement of new weapons, the Tavush events, the whole-of-government approach to security, changes in political realities that affect Artsakh settlement and other security related issues.

Referring to the creation of home guardsmen, the Secretary of the Security Council Armen Grigoryan said. "Large-scale reforms have been made in the security system of the Republic of Armenia in the last 2-2.5 years. From the acquisition of new weapons to the changes in the food systems, as well as the increase of efficiency in the management system. We have done a lot of work in the direction of mobilization capabilities, so that the whole government system, economy and army are ready for a possible war. According to our assessments, the threats of the general region are such that it is impossible to suppress those possible threats only with the regular army. Yes, as far as Azerbaijan is concerned, today we are able to neutralize that threat with our armed forces, and even with an advantage, but the threats in the region are such that in case of other possible developments our regular army is not enough, we need home guardsmen for strengthening our security system. We have mentioned in the new national security strategy the provision of the perpetuity of Armenian statehood, hence we must be ready for to deter and counter all possible threats.

Touching upon the issue of the Turkish military base in Azerbaijan, Armen Grigoryan noted. "Deployment of a military base in Azerbaijan will mean destabilization of the entire region. Turkey, as a military power, has not been present in the region for many years, not even for centuries, and such change will be a threat to the stability of the region. And this threat must be neutralized, there is a potential and it is possible to neutralize that threat. Those opportunities are there.”

At the same time, speaking about possible new provocations by Azerbaijan, the Secretary of the Security Council said. "Any problem posed by the Armed Forces can be solved in terms of security. Here I want to mention a circumstance that Azerbaijan has become unpredictable on many issues. The July failures, falling oil prices and socio-economic problems in Azerbaijan have made Aliev unpredictable. Of course, Aliev can take any step, it will be very difficult to concentrate all our efforts to predict what Aliev will plan to do. We will find it a little difficult to give assessments in that regard. I can say that if any such plan arises, we will know it as soon as possible, we are ready to counter any such plan, our Armed Forces and security system are ready for it.

The full video is below