Armenia’s Minister of Defense Vagharshak Harutyunyan has issued a yearend message, which reads as follows in particular:

2020 was a very difficult year for the Armenian people and the Armenian army. In the [recent] war unleashed against Artsakh [(Nagorno-Karabakh)], we lost the best sons of our people, our comrades in arms (…).

But that war once again showed the unbreakable spirit of the Armenian soldier and officer, the immeasurable degree of self-sacrifice and the complete devotion to the Homeland.

From now on, each of us must have only one mission: to work. (…). To work with the clear conviction in mind that we are carrying out the most important mission: the defense of the Homeland.

To work, first of all, to be honest before ourselves, and to try to understand where we failed in the vitally important and responsible process of army building.

To work to create a strong military industry (…).

To work to further strengthen military-political ties with our allies and friendly countries.

I am more than sure that we can go through that difficult but vitally important path. And to do that, we need faith, strength, and unity.

I am confident that each of us—from the rank-and-file to the general—will make as much effort as possible to fully implement the most important idea that unites all of us, all Armenians: the sacred mission of security and defense of the Homeland.