The visit last week by Karen National Union chairman General Saw Mutu Say Poe to the Defence Services Academy at Pyin Oo Lwin was a significant development in Myanmar’s history.
It was the first time since Independence in 1948 that the leader of an armed ethnic group had visited the DSA, the most prestigious of the Tatmadaw’s officer training schools. That the visit involved the leader of the group that had launched its rebellion on January 31, 1949, one year after Independence, and been involved in the world’s longest civil conflict until it signed a ceasefire in January 2012, added to its significance.
At the Union Peace Conference that began in Nay Pyi Taw last week, Tatmadaw Commander-in-Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing said the military was being transformed into a “standard army” that armed ethnic groups were welcome to join if they wished to serve the country under the Tatmadaw. (Courtesy of Frontier Myanmar)
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