Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan, during a Q&A with reporters today in Yerevan, claimed that one of the main reasons for suicides in the country’s armed forces is that soldiers sleeping while on watch are then isolated as slackers and harassed by fellow soldiers to the point of committing suicide.

Pashinyan said soldiers must be physically and psychologically prepared to avoid sleeping while manning their positions.

Harassment-based suicides within the Armenian military is an ongoing problem despite Armenian government claims that steps are being taken to reform the military.

The Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly-Vanadzor, in August, reported twenty-seven deaths within the Armenian military in the first half of 2024. Four were suicides and three were murder cases.

Pashinyan pointed out two other main factors leading to army suicides – online gambling within the military and family/personal issues. Her said these three factors are the cause of 85% of army suicides.

He said that soldiers often find themselves unable to pay gambling debts and see no other exit but suicide.

Pashinyan said the blame for army suicides rests with him and not army commanders.

While Armenian Pashinyan vowed to tackle non combat deaths in the army after he came to power in 2018, the problem remains.

During his talk with reporters, he confessed that the government has yet to resolve the issue of army suicides and spoke of a need to instill a sense of solidarity within the military ranks.