VOMA (Armenian: Ողջ մնալու արվեստ, lit. 'Art of Survival') is an Armenian non-governmental organization established in 2014, created by a group of professional military personnel and veterans who announced their purpose to develop a society capable of defending itself in a war.[1]
| Art of Survival | |
|---|---|
| Ողջ մնալու արվեստ | |
 | |
| Active | 2014–present |
| Allegiance |  Armenia |
| Role | Counter-offensive special forces |
| Engagements | |
| Website | www |
Activity edit
The primary idea of the VOMA organization is that the training of reservists, recruits and volunteers from Armenia and the Armenian diaspora will help creating a more powerful state and become a better reserve army. The organization conducts courses for people over 16 years old.[citation needed]
The courses cover a number of areas: firearms training, archery, survival training, close-quarters combat, Wing Chun, knife throwing, rock climbing, Applied Biology, first aid and medical treatment training, psychology and interrogation training, cartography and Razmapar, a traditional Armenian dance in celebration of war.[2][better source needed]
Ideology edit
Nation-Army Concept edit
According to VOMA, the purpose of the nation-army concept and one of the major goals of VOMA is to create a reserve army consisting of 300-800 thousand trained personnel, which will help to fill the losses suffered by the main army during combat operations, as well as provide an opportunity to carry out counter-offensive operations.[3]
Armenian-Azerbaijani War (2020) edit
In 2020, during the Nagorno-Karabakh War, VOMA carried out military activities not only by participating in actual combat operations, but also by preparing volunteer groups. Immediately after the start of the war, the formation of the VOMA Battalion began on the basis of the Artsakh Defence Army, which moved to Artsakh on 29 September 2020. VOMA Battalion was tasked with the duty of protecting the villages of Karvachar, Karmir Shuka, and Taghavard in Martun.[citation needed]
In a December 2021 paper submitted to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime the Republic of Azerbaijan has described VOMA as a "terrorist organization of Armenia" and has urged the UN member states to prevent financial transactions that would support VOMA.[4]
See also edit
References edit
- ^ "Art of Survival: Armenia's grass-root military training organization". English Jamnews. 2021-07-26. Retrieved 2022-08-31.
- ^ ""Ողջ Մնալու Արվեստ" ակումբ | SportClubs.am". sportclubs.am. Retrieved 2022-08-31.
- ^ "VOMA CENTER - Наша Миссия". www.voma.center. Retrieved 2022-08-31.
- ^ "Conference room paper submitted by the Government of Azerbaijan" (PDF). unodc.org. 2021-12-21. Retrieved 2023-10-02.
the Republic of Azerbaijan urges all UN Member States to carry out financial investigations to identify whether any funds originating from their territories have been used for financing the activities of "VoMA" terrorist organization of Armenia and to exercise due diligence in relation to all financial transactions to and from the Republic of Armenia with a view to preventing their potential use for terrorist financing activities in the future