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ARMENIA: MILITARY ACADEMIES OPENING DOORS TO WOMEN
EurasiaNet.org, NY
July 16 2013
July 16, 2013 - 2:18pm, by Gayane Abrahamyan
This year for the first time young women in Armenia can enroll in the
country's two military academies. Some observers say coeducation has
more to do with Armenia's dire demographic situation than with any
desire to promote gender equality.
In June, the Defense Ministry announced that physically fit women over
the age of 18 who had passed exams in mathematics and physics and
finished high school would be eligible for admission at Yerevan's
four-year Vazgen Sarkisian Military Institute and the Marshal
Khanpertsian Institute of Military Aviation. Unlike male students,
they will be required to return home in the evenings - a practical
function due to the lack of coed dormitories. After acquiring a
bachelor's degree, they will be required to serve as officers in the
military for 10 years.
Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian termed the change "part of large-scale
reforms in the army" and an "opportunity for representatives of the
gentle sex" to gain a "higher military education and professional
growth."
Representatives of the two academies, speaking on condition of
anonymity, told EurasiaNet.org that interest among women in enrolling
was higher than anticipated. As of the July 1 application deadline, 25
women between the ages of 21 and 23 applied for admission, they said.
Currently, more than 1,500 women are serving in Armenia's armed
forces, mostly in administrative capacities. Women are not subject
to conscription. Between 1992 and 1994, however, around 600 women
fought as volunteer soldiers, doctors and nurses in Nagorno-Karabakh
war against Azerbaijan; 18 were killed.
Armenia's move leaves Azerbaijan as the only country in the South
Caucasus that does not have coeducational military academies.
Reactions to the decision to admit women to military academies
generally have been favorable. Defense Ministry representative Artsrun
Hovhannisian explained that Armenia is keeping with the times by now
facilitating women's access to leadership positions in the military.
"In this era of technical development, physical strength somewhat
yields to [other] capacities, and women are usually quite capable --
they are quick and agile, hardworking and persistent," Hovhannisian
elaborated. "Right now, a strong mind matters the most, and in that
respect we have no right to discriminate between boys and girls."
But some observers assert that coeducation is the byproduct of
necessity, not the result of an enlightened impulse. Human rights
activist Artur Sakunts, a longtime advocate for soldiers' rights within
the army, believes that women's admission into military academies
has little to do with gender equality and a lot to do with the army
being unable to meet conscription quotas.
"It is simply absurd to talk about gender equality in an army severely
challenged with social inequality," said Sakunts, who heads the
Helsinki Citizens' Assembly Vanadzor office. "This is, undoubtedly,
an attempt to somehow resolve the quota issue."
During the 1990s --amid the Nagorno-Karabakh War, as well as the
economic upheaval that followed the 1991 Soviet collapse -- Armenia
experienced a drastic decline in its birthrate. In the 1980s, some
40,000 boys had been born each year, but, in 1995, one year after the
cease-fire with Azerbaijan, that number fell to 25,697, according
to National Statistical Service data. Factoring in migration, "the
number is even smaller," commented Karine Kulumjian, head of the
Service's Department of Demography.
Some experts claim that the army, now faced with a dearth of draftable
18-year-old men, is having trouble maintaining troop numbers.
Anxieties are exacerbated by the fact that Azerbaijan, using its
windfall from energy exports, is engaged in a military buildup.
Hovhannisian, the Armenian Defense Ministry representative, disputed
the notion that the admission of women to military academies was
motivated by the military's demographic quandary. Indeed, he went
so far as to deny the existence of a numbers problem at all. "First
of all, we do not expect that the amount of women might be so high
that it could solve it," he stated. (Men slightly outnumber women at
the age of conscription.) "Secondly, we do not have a quota issue,
because every year we recruit more contract servicemen and by that
fill the conscription gap. So, this is not an issue."
Military psychologist David Jamalian, a lecturer at the European
Regional Educational Academy, echoed Hovhannisian's opinion. Letting
women into military academies "is more about granting an opportunity,"
Jamalian contended. "We do not deny the reality, which is that the
army has the issue of filling its ranks, but not this way. Having a
professional army is the proper perspective, and the Defense Ministry
is gradually getting there."
For Maj. Gen. Arkadi Ter-Tadevosian, a Karabakh War veteran,
the motivation for this change is secondary to the results. "I
felt the importance of women's presence during the hostilities,"
Ter-Tadevosian recounted. "With their level of preparedness and sense
of responsibility, women always make men more restrained and balanced
and aspire for improvement, and that can only do the army good."
Editor's note: Gayane Abrahamyan is a freelance reporter and editor
in Yerevan.
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/67254
EurasiaNet.org, NY
July 16 2013
July 16, 2013 - 2:18pm, by Gayane Abrahamyan
This year for the first time young women in Armenia can enroll in the
country's two military academies. Some observers say coeducation has
more to do with Armenia's dire demographic situation than with any
desire to promote gender equality.
In June, the Defense Ministry announced that physically fit women over
the age of 18 who had passed exams in mathematics and physics and
finished high school would be eligible for admission at Yerevan's
four-year Vazgen Sarkisian Military Institute and the Marshal
Khanpertsian Institute of Military Aviation. Unlike male students,
they will be required to return home in the evenings - a practical
function due to the lack of coed dormitories. After acquiring a
bachelor's degree, they will be required to serve as officers in the
military for 10 years.
Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian termed the change "part of large-scale
reforms in the army" and an "opportunity for representatives of the
gentle sex" to gain a "higher military education and professional
growth."
Representatives of the two academies, speaking on condition of
anonymity, told EurasiaNet.org that interest among women in enrolling
was higher than anticipated. As of the July 1 application deadline, 25
women between the ages of 21 and 23 applied for admission, they said.
Currently, more than 1,500 women are serving in Armenia's armed
forces, mostly in administrative capacities. Women are not subject
to conscription. Between 1992 and 1994, however, around 600 women
fought as volunteer soldiers, doctors and nurses in Nagorno-Karabakh
war against Azerbaijan; 18 were killed.
Armenia's move leaves Azerbaijan as the only country in the South
Caucasus that does not have coeducational military academies.
Reactions to the decision to admit women to military academies
generally have been favorable. Defense Ministry representative Artsrun
Hovhannisian explained that Armenia is keeping with the times by now
facilitating women's access to leadership positions in the military.
"In this era of technical development, physical strength somewhat
yields to [other] capacities, and women are usually quite capable --
they are quick and agile, hardworking and persistent," Hovhannisian
elaborated. "Right now, a strong mind matters the most, and in that
respect we have no right to discriminate between boys and girls."
But some observers assert that coeducation is the byproduct of
necessity, not the result of an enlightened impulse. Human rights
activist Artur Sakunts, a longtime advocate for soldiers' rights within
the army, believes that women's admission into military academies
has little to do with gender equality and a lot to do with the army
being unable to meet conscription quotas.
"It is simply absurd to talk about gender equality in an army severely
challenged with social inequality," said Sakunts, who heads the
Helsinki Citizens' Assembly Vanadzor office. "This is, undoubtedly,
an attempt to somehow resolve the quota issue."
During the 1990s --amid the Nagorno-Karabakh War, as well as the
economic upheaval that followed the 1991 Soviet collapse -- Armenia
experienced a drastic decline in its birthrate. In the 1980s, some
40,000 boys had been born each year, but, in 1995, one year after the
cease-fire with Azerbaijan, that number fell to 25,697, according
to National Statistical Service data. Factoring in migration, "the
number is even smaller," commented Karine Kulumjian, head of the
Service's Department of Demography.
Some experts claim that the army, now faced with a dearth of draftable
18-year-old men, is having trouble maintaining troop numbers.
Anxieties are exacerbated by the fact that Azerbaijan, using its
windfall from energy exports, is engaged in a military buildup.
Hovhannisian, the Armenian Defense Ministry representative, disputed
the notion that the admission of women to military academies was
motivated by the military's demographic quandary. Indeed, he went
so far as to deny the existence of a numbers problem at all. "First
of all, we do not expect that the amount of women might be so high
that it could solve it," he stated. (Men slightly outnumber women at
the age of conscription.) "Secondly, we do not have a quota issue,
because every year we recruit more contract servicemen and by that
fill the conscription gap. So, this is not an issue."
Military psychologist David Jamalian, a lecturer at the European
Regional Educational Academy, echoed Hovhannisian's opinion. Letting
women into military academies "is more about granting an opportunity,"
Jamalian contended. "We do not deny the reality, which is that the
army has the issue of filling its ranks, but not this way. Having a
professional army is the proper perspective, and the Defense Ministry
is gradually getting there."
For Maj. Gen. Arkadi Ter-Tadevosian, a Karabakh War veteran,
the motivation for this change is secondary to the results. "I
felt the importance of women's presence during the hostilities,"
Ter-Tadevosian recounted. "With their level of preparedness and sense
of responsibility, women always make men more restrained and balanced
and aspire for improvement, and that can only do the army good."
Editor's note: Gayane Abrahamyan is a freelance reporter and editor
in Yerevan.
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/67254