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"Our independent state, in the face of its government, army, the leaders of law enforcement bodies, is unable  to protect the security of our country and the people, its territories, the property and the interest of its population,"the candidate for the prime minister from the opposition Homeland Salvation Movement Vazgen Manukyan said in a statement on Monday. 

"Our losses continue. Now it is the turn of Shurnukh," Manukyan said, referring to the village in Armenia's southern Syunik province, part of which will be ceded to Azerbaijan. 

The opposition figure next reminded of tragic pogroms in Sumgait back in 1988, when neither the state nor the the army (then USSR) were able to protect the physical security of the Armenian population, and only self-defense units formed in Armenia under severe USSR restrictions were able to get armed and take up the security of the Armenian population. In Manukyan's words, years after those events, we have occurred in a similar situation today. Authorities are attempting to mislead the population through lies, self-justification  and false explanations for the mere fact of prolonging their rule, according to the statement. 

"When the state is unable to ensure the security of its citizens and the protection of their rights, people's natural right is to take control of that protection," Manukyan said, adding: "We will replace these incapable authorities who are destroying our country. The military power, that has been formed throughout decades will again become the guarantor of our security. Yet it requires time during which we may suffer losses, the borders of our countries are being narrowed, while our citizens and borderline communities remain unprotected," said Manukyan. 

Under the prevailing conditions when the state structures are failing to operate, Manukyan calls on the youth, war veterans and residents of borderline communities to form defense units, negotiate and cooperate with peacekeeping forces on the interpretation and realization of the provisions of the November 9 trilateral statement and protect the borders of the country and the security of the people.