ArmInfo.The first president of Armenia Levon Ter-Petrosyan advises the Armenian authorities to borrow Israel's "Peace Now" concept instead of introducing the army- nation concept.
At the 2nd congress of the Armenian National Congress Party (ANC), Ter-Petrosyan said that the authorities failed to draw the necessary conclusions from the April war, because instead of reasonable actions aimed at strengthening the country and the army, the authorities resorted to the army-nation concept and a new kind of tax. "Apart from the Amazons, history knows three cases of use of this concept: medieval Mongolia and Switzerland, as well as present-day Israel, whose financial and human resources are much more than ours. Unlike Israel, which has tense relations with almost all its neighbors, Armenia has friendly relations with at least two of its neighbors," he said, noting that the existence and independence of Armenia, unlike Israel, is not endangered. "So, we do not have to follow the army-nation concept at all. It is not obligatory to apply the successful practices of other countries, because in our case this concept can become a serious problem and will only boost the migration. That is to say, we may have a strong army, but will there be a nation?" Ter-Petrosyan says.
"If the implementation of this idea is a serious intention, the concept is a new package for the strategy of maintenance of the status quo in Karabakh. That is to say, the authorities are trying to replace the exhausted brand with a new one that sounds better and more attractive. It appears that without drawing any conclusions from the past experience, the authorities intend to continue the policy of clashes with Azerbaijan and Turkey, which has and will have negative economic, social, demographic, democratic and moral consequences for Armenia and Artsakh. This means that the policy of destruction will continue until Armenia and Artsakh cease to exist and the question becomes irrelevant," he stressed.