Armenia to ‘increasingly add’ border guards, Pashinyan says

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has vowed to boost the presence of border guards, following a visit to the Azerbaijani border. In a speech marking Armenian Border Guard Day on Saturday, he called the policy ‘a very important intermediate step on the path to long-term peace, institutional peace and stability’.

His speech was mainly focused on praising the role of the border troops, which are a part of the Armenian National Security Service (NSS), with Pashinyan suggesting that the border guards were ‘in a sense, a symbol of peace, a symbol of stability, a symbol of security’.

Throughout 2024, Armenian border troops took control over all the checkpoints of the Armenian borders, including at the Yerevan Zvartnots Airport, and border checkpoints with Iran and Turkey. Previously, Russian border guards were stationed in the mentioned checkpoints, with Russians still maintaining their presence along the border with Turkey and Iran.

Armenian border guards take over Iranian border checkpoint from Russia

Armenian National Security Service border troops will take over full control of the checkpoint on the Armenia-Iran border from Russian troops from January 2025, with Armenian border guards also serving alongside the Russian contingent along the borders with Iran and Turkey. The agreement was announced by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s spokesperson following a meeting between Pashinyan and Russian President Vladimir Putin on 8 October on the sidelines of the Council of Heads of State

OC MediaArshaluys Barseghyan

Pashinyan called it a ‘very important milestone for our state, independence, sovereignty and development’, that people visiting and leaving Armenia ‘come into contact only and exclusively’ with Armenian border guards.

Addressing the process of assuming control over Armenia’s borders with Iran and Turkey, Pashinyan, along with expressing gratitude to Russia, noted that it was Armenia’s ‘medium-term goal’ to take full control of its borders. He also said that for this reason, his government was ‘taking steps to increase the capabilities’ of the NSS border guards to make it possible.

While not explicitly addressed, Pashinyan’s speech referenced another significant development in 2024, the delimitation of the Armenia–Azerbaijan border in the northern Tavush Province. Critics of the move characterised it as a unilateral handover of territory. Following the demarcation, Armenian border guards took control of the demarcated section of the border with Azerbaijan, a role previously held by the Armenian Armed Forces.

Referencing the demarcated section, Pashinyan said that those areas acquired a certain demonstrative significance for his government.

‘Because, personally, I and representatives of other state administration bodies go to demarcated and delimited areas to demonstrate what we mean by talking about the “Real Armenia”, what we mean by peace and security, and this is an extremely important feature’, Pashinyan said.

Pashinyan was referring to the concept of ‘Real Armenia’, an idea he first voiced in April 2024, insisting that Armenians must accept modern Armenia within its current borders.

Despite Pashinyan’s positive assessment of the delimited border, RFE/RL reported on 22 April that their journalists were obstructed by border troops while working in the village of Kirants in the demarcated area. Moreover, the border troops urged them to leave the border area and the village itself.RFE/RL’s visit to the village took place shortly after Pashinyan’s visit to Kirants, following which Pashinyan wrote on Facebook — ‘Everyone who wants to see what the Real Armenia ideology is practically about, please visit Kirants’.