The Armenian Border Guard ( hy, Հայաստանի Սահմանային պահպանություն) is the branch of the
National Security Service of Armenia that is responsible for monitoring and guarding
Armenia
Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...
's borders with neighbors
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
,
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...
,
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
and
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
. The border guard works in conjunction with a
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
military contingent from the
Federal Security Service
The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) RF; rus, Федеральная служба безопасности Российской Федерации (ФСБ России), Federal'naya sluzhba bezopasnosti Rossiyskoy Feder ...
stationed in Armenia and headquartered at the
102nd Military Base in
Gyumri
Gyumri ( hy, Գյումրի, ) is an urban municipal community and the second-largest city in Armenia, serving as the administrative center of Shirak Province in the northwestern part of the country. By the end of the 19th century, when the city w ...
.
History
The border guard was initially subordinated to the
Ministry of Defence
{{unsourced, date=February 2021
A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...
when it was established on 28 January 1992 with the rest of the military. On 26 April 1994, the draft Law "On the State Border" was introduced by the
National Assembly of Armenia
The National Assembly of Armenia ( hy, Հայաստանի Հանրապետության Ազգային ժողով, ''Hayastani Hanrapetyut'yan Azgayin zhoghov'' or simply Ազգային ժողով, ԱԺ ''Azgayin Zhoghov'', ''AZh''), also infor ...
. Its charter was signed into law on 20 November 2001. In 2004 it was transferred to the jurisdiction of the Ministry of National Security and Internal Affairs. The first general meeting of the Union of Veterans and Pensioners of the Border Guard Troops took place in late 2019.
Mechanized equipment
As of 2022, the Ministry of National Security and Internal Affairs has its disposal 5
BMD-1
The BMD-1 is a Soviet airborne amphibious tracked infantry fighting vehicle, which was introduced in 1969 and first seen by the West in 1970. BMD stands for ''Boyevaya Mashina Desanta'' (Боевая Машина Десанта, which literally ...
s, 35
BMP-1
The BMP-1 is a Soviet amphibious tracked infantry fighting vehicle, in service 1966–present. BMP stands for ''Boyevaya Mashina Pyekhoty 1'' (russian: link=no, Боевая Машина Пехоты 1; БМП-1), meaning "infantry fighting ...
s, 3
BRM-1K
This is a complete list of variants and designations of the BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicle (IFV). It is sorted by country of origin.
Variants
Soviet Union
Infantry fighting vehicles
* BMP (Ob'yekt 764) – The original main prototype of the ...
s, 5
BTR-60
The BTR-60 is the first vehicle in a series of Soviet eight-wheeled armoured personnel carriers (APCs). It was developed in the late 1950s as a replacement for the BTR-152 and was seen in public for the first time in 1961. BTR stands for ''Bronet ...
s, and 18
BTR-70
The BTR-70 is an eight-wheeled armored personnel carrier (russian: бронетранспортер/ ''Bronetransporter'', or literally "Armoured Transporter") originally developed by the Soviet Union during the late 1960s under the manufacturing ...
s.
International Institute for Strategic Studies
The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) is a British research institute or think tank in the area of international affairs. Since 1997, its headquarters have been Arundel House in London, England.
The 2017 Global Go To Think T ...
, ''The Military Balance 2022''. London: Routledge, 2022, p. 182.
Leadership
Commanders
* General
Yuri Khatchaturov
Yuri Grigorii Khachaturov ( hy, Յուրի Գրիգորիի Խաչատուրով; born 1 May 1952) is an Armenian general. He formerly served as the Secretary-General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and as Chief of the Genera ...
(1992-2000)
* Major General Armen Abrahamyan (November 2005-12 June 2018)
* Colonel General Vaghinak Sargsyan (12 June 2018 – 26 October 2020)
* Colonel Arman Maralchyan (since 26 October 2020)
Chief of Staff of the Border Guard
* Gagik Tevosyan (?-26 October 2020)
* Colonel Arman Gasparyan (since 26 October 2020)
See also
*
Armed Forces of Armenia
The Armed Forces of Armenia ( hy, Հայաստանի զինված ուժեր, Hayastani zinvats uzher), sometimes referred to as the Armenian Army ( hy, Հայկական Բանակ, Haykakan Banak), is the national military of Armenia. It consist ...
*
Armenian Air Force
The Armenian Air Force ( hy, Հայաստանի Ռազմաօդային Ուժեր, Hayastani Razmaodayin Uzher) is the air arm of the Armed Forces of Armenia formed by independent Armenia in 1992 in the wake of the dissolution of the Soviet Unio ...
Notes
Border guards
Border Guard
A border guard of a country is a national security agency that performs border security. Some of the national border guard agencies also perform coast guard (as in Federal Police (Germany), Germany, Guardia di Finanza, Italy or State Border Gua ...
1994 establishments in Armenia
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