Radical steps needed to address homicides, suicides in army - PM

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has addressed the ongoing reforms in the military, while also expressing concern over deaths, including suicides and homicides in the army. 

Pashinyan told lawmakers during parliamentary debates on the government’s 2026-2031 program that his administration will take radical steps to address these problems.

“Today, our army is developing dynamically, but not without problems. Suicides, cases of incitement to suicide, homicides, and the deaths of our soldiers for various reasons are a deep concern for the government. Our efforts to eliminate these problems will not stop, and we are already outlining concrete programs on how we should solve this problem, while also understanding that it is in some way connected to changes in the external environment,” the prime minister said.

The prime minister highlighted that a working group has currently been formed to address homicides and suicides in the army. The group involves three ministers: the ministers of defense, education, science, culture and sport, and health.

“Currently, the biggest problem for the government is the continuation of these incidents in the army. Part of these incidents in the army is related to the so-called problem of ‘sleeping while on duty.’ This problem has now become more acute because when there was no peace, a soldier on guard duty himself also feared that if he fell asleep, his physical safety would be at risk. Now they know that this will not happen, or that the likelihood of it happening is very low, but the attitude of the military unit and the environment, particularly in units that have been involved in the war, has remained unchanged. Here, we are discussing that we need radical steps,” the prime minister explained, stressing that the problem requires an urgent response and solution.

According to the prime minister, as a result of the discussions, the government has reached a preliminary conclusion that the logic of military service has not been adapted to the established peace.

He drew attention to the fact that a significant part of the problems in the army do not originate in the army but rather become concentrated and manifest themselves there, and that deep public, socio-political, educational and cultural transformations are an important part of addressing problems in the army.