Armenian Army strengthens by preventing aggression, says former defense minister

A crew consisting of 12.000 servicemen, more than 1500 armored vehicles and equipment, more than 50 UAVs: according to the CSTO program, large-scale military drills will be held starting from October 6, Vagharshak Harutyunyan – former defense minister of Armenia, told a press conference.

The military exercises will be held in the territories of 4 countries – Russia, Armenia, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan. They will be attended by all member states of the CSTO. The goal is to improve CSTO’s leadership system.

“As you know the CSTO rules of procedure says – prevent aggression against member states. These joint military drills named ‘Combat Brotherhood 2017’ will be held in several stages. One stage will be held in Armenia which will be attended by the intelligence units, the troops formed recently, the collective response forces and etc. The last stage will be held in Tajikistan”, Vagharshak Harutyunyan said.

The drills will also be attended by the CSTO leadership, secretariat and the Red Cross.

Asked whether there is a concern in Azerbaijan over these drills, the former defense minister said yes there is and it’s normal.

According to him, these military exercises show that the military cooperation is at the highest level.

“Our goal is the following: to develop our Army, and in this context such military drills are very important. Various issues are being examined during these exercises, the troops are being highly prepared to act correctly in case of aggression. Therefore, the Armenian Army strengthens by preventing the aggression”, he said.