Analysts explain aim of protests of Armenian conscripts' parents

The vacations granted to Armenian regular soldiers, who had fought in Nagorno-Karabakh, will reduce tensions in the army, while their parents' protests were emotional and will not affect the domestic political situation, Armenian human rights defenders and political analysts believe.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that since November 27, in Yerevan, Armenian soldiers' parents have been holding protests demanding to return their sons from Nagorno-Karabakh. They expressed fears that soldiers could become victims of sabotage or be captured. On November 30, parents achieved a week-long leave for soldiers.

On December 1, the first group of soldiers who received their leaves arrived from Karabakh, the Armenian Ministry of Defence (MoD) has reported.

Akop Badalyan, a political analyst, believes that the parental concerns about their sons' everyday problems and the stress from the war they have gone through are quite natural. In his opinion, the soldiers' vacations will not play any significant role in heating up protest moods.

Armen Vardanyan, a political analyst, also believes that "soldiers' stories will not affect the political background, since soldiers themselves will not get involved in political games."

Zhanna Aleksanyan, a human rights defender, whose organization "Journalists for Human Rights" deals, among other things, with problems in the army, is confident that soldiers' vacation will not affect their discipline.