YEREVAN. – 2014 will be remembered as a year when the Armenian nation proved determination in protecting achievements of the Karabakh war, Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan said in his New Year message.

Defense Minister said the past year was marked not only by unprecedented border tension, but active work on army building.

“Although there are continuing provocation, much has been done to improve the combat readiness and security. Special attention is paid to the educational process,” he assured.

The Ministry continued work on the revision of defense strategy, the purchase of military equipment and weapons and upgrade of communications.

Seyran Ohanyan noted that despite the attempts of the enemy to move “sniper war” to “subversive war” and destruction of helicopter that was operating a training flight, the Armenian army did not yield to provocations, and in fact, applied the approach of “small means, big goals”.

The adversary suffered losses several times higher in number than the losses of the Armenian side.

“But we found our heroes who gave their lives to protect the integrity of the bordrs of the two Armenian states,” Ohanyan added. “Through our joint efforts, the Armenian army today defends the borders of Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh confidently, and does not allow repetition of the terrible past,” Ohanyan said.

The Minister also reminded of the importance of public contacts and participation of Armenian peacekeepers in missions in Afghanistan, Kosovo and Lebanon.