YEREVAN. Oct 21 (Interfax) - The unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic has denied reports on the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army being disbanded.
"Statements saying that the president of Artsakh [Armenian name for Nagorno-Karabakh] intends to disband the army are not true. The Defense Army of Artsakh has been and remains one of the main guarantors of the security of the Artsakh Republic. The issue of disbanding the army is not on the agenda of Artsakh's government," Lusine Avanesyan, press secretary for the president of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, told the Arstakhpress news agency.
Discussions on the Defense Army concern reorganization, rearmament, modernization, and other issues, Avanesyan said. "We need to do a lot to build our future, and the army plays a key role in that," she said.
Forcibly Displaced Armenian Population of Shushi NGO board member Ashot Harutyunyan said at the permanent commission on the protection of human rights and public issues of the Armenian parliament earlier on Thursday that the Karabakh president intends to disband the Defense Army at the demand of Azerbaijan.
A Russian peacekeeping contingent was deployed in Nagorno-Karabakh after the hostilities ended in fall 2020.