YEREVAN. – The Armenian soldier standing at the border never provokes.

The Minister of Defense of Armenia, Seyran Ohanyan, stated the abovementioned Friday at the capital city Yerevan Primary School No. 11 named after Monte Melkonian (Monte Melkonian was an American-born Armenian commander during the Nagorno-Karabakh War. He was killed in the abandoned Karabakh village of Merzuli on June 12, 1993. Melkonian was buried at Yerablur Military Pantheon in Yerevan, and is revered by Armenians as a national hero). 

“The Armenian soldier standing in trenches never provokes, he is never the first to commit [ceasefire] violations. He always wants to see his Motherland, his country’s borders in peace,” the minister said. “But if the opposing side rises up, he is ready to selflessly defend his country’s borders.”

At Primary School No. 11, Ohanyan attended the unveiling of the bust of Armenian soldier Armen Hovhannisyan, who was killed during an Azerbaijani act of sabotage, and the opening of a classroom named after him.