Hostilities Between Armenia & Azerbaijan

[Armenian Highlander]

http://members.fortunecity.com/whitepride1/whitepride/whitepride/images/picoftheweek_l_jpg.jpg

 

There has been some hostilities on the Armenian Azeri border as of late. There are also fears that Aliev junior, who took office upon his fathers death, may try to attempt a military invasion of the Nagorno Karagbagh Republic. Needless to state, any future conflict within the southern Caucasus will directly impact Europe, USA, Turkey, Iran and Russia. And this comes at a time when the entire Eurasian region has become a volatile powder-keg. The article below is written from a Turanid perspective, I found it within a Chechen news web-site no too long ago.

 

President of Armenia proud of killing Azeris

 

Department of Cooperation and Mass Media, Kavkaz-Center

 

Azeris met Armenian president Robert Kocharian with a protest rally in front of the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) in Strasbourg. The rally was organized by the World Azerbaijani Council, Society of Cultural Connections and local Azerbaijani student organizations, ASN news agency reported.

 

The protesters were thundering out, 'Artsax' and «Away with Armenian invasion». The signs they were holding contained the demand to comply with the UN resolution on vacating the Azerbaijani territories occupied by Armenia. The picket was taking place when in the PACE building Kocharian had an opening ceremony of an exhibition showing photo evidence and correspondence of Norwegian explorer F. Nansen, who in the beginning of last century was helping Armenian refugees in Turkey.

 

Samed Seidov, head of Azerbaijani delegation to PACE, asked Armenian president Kocharian, «Wouldn’t it be more correct for Armenia to return 7 occupied regions to Azerbaijan?» And Kocharian answered that official Yerevan (Armenian capital) «adheres to the option of package settlement of the conflict». At the same time he added that «if Azerbaijan did not reject the Key West agreements at the right time, the problem of vacating some of these territories would have been solved long time ago, the same thing would have happened had Azerbaijan agreed to the principle of the 'common state'.

 

In this connection member of Azerbaijani delegation to PACE Rafael Huseinov told ASN news agency that Kocharian’s speech may be used as an indictment against him in the future, as well as against Armenia as a whole. He would not delve into the contents of Armenian president’s speech, he only mentioned some details of it.

 

When answering the questions about persecution of the opposition and free press in Armenia, Kocharian accused the Council of Europe that the conflicts between the opposition and the authorities in his country should never concern that European institution, and «this problem is supposed to be solved in the parliament of Armenia». Kocharian was giving evasive answers to many questions that PACE members were asking him, since he was unable to give any objective or honest answers to them.

 

Huseinov also asked Kocharian:«In January 2003 you made a statement about ethnic incompatibility between Armenians and Azeris, which the Council of Europe had a negative reaction to. And in May 2004 you announced that you took part in the invasion of Shusha and that you are considering this fact to be one of the remarkable events in your life».

 

«Besides, you took part in the Hojala genocide in February 1992. How real can your role be in the settlement of the conflict after all of that?» According to Huseinov, at first Kocharian was denying everything and motivating his denials that he could not remember which statements he made and where. But finally he admitted, «Yes, I did take part in war operations since 1988 till 1994 and I am proud of it».

 

Member of Azerbaijani delegation to PACE says that Kocharian thus admitted to being an aggressor. The reaction of Azerbaijani politicians did not make anybody wait too long: «Such absurd statements that the president of Armenia made from the podium at the Council of Europe can cause nothing but pity», Novruz Mamedov, chairman of foreign relations department of the administration of Azerbaijani president, said.

 

Mr. Mamedov also added that «the speech of Armenian leader was built on lies, and he was not ashamed of lying to the European parliamentarians». «How can a serious politician be claiming that Artsax has never been a part of Azerbaijan, and that during the USSR it used to have a status similar to what Azerbaijan had», Mamedov said. Mamedov called Kocharian’s admission that he was taking part in the invasion of Azerbaijani territories a 'flagrant fact'.

 

Political analyst Rasim Musabekov called Kocharian’s speech «behavior of a cheeky person who has no idea where he is and how to behave at an international forum». «I think that most of the European parliamentarians were shocked by the way Kocharian was acting», Mr. Musabekov said. Political analyst Zardusht Alizade believes that Kocharian’s statements contained nothing new at all. «The way Kocharian was acting shows failure of Azerbaijani diplomacy», Mr. Alizade believes.

 

Department of Cooperation and Mass Media, Kavkaz-Center

 

Source: http://kavkazcenter.com/eng/article.php?id=2935

Edited September 16, 2004 by Armenian Highlander

[Armenian Highlander]

Pakistan Times

July 9 2004

 

Musharraf, Aliyev reiterate support on Kashmir, Nagorno-Artsax

Pakistan Times Foreign Desk.

 

BAKU (Azerbaijan): President General Pervez Musharraf and his Azeri

counterpart Ilham Aliyev Thursday agreed to upgrade bilateral

relations in various fields, reiterating their countries' support to

each other on issues including Kashmir dispute and Nagorno-Artsax.

 

Joint Press Conference

 

"Pakistan and Azerbaijan support each other on all international and

regional issues," declared Azeri President Aliyev at a joint Press

Conference with President Musharraf.

 

The joint press conference followed official talks between the two

sides and signing of four agreements on promoting cooperation in

various fields.

 

'Azerbaijan supports Pak on Kashmir'

 

President Aliyev said Azerbaijan supports Pakistan's stand on the

Jammu and Kashmir dispute while "Pakistan supports us on the issue of

Nagorno Artsax. We believe that these two issues should be settled

according to international and UN resolutions," he said.

 

President Musharraf told newsmen that the two countries had a

complete identity of views on all major international and political

issues. He said the occupation of Nagorno-Artsax by Armenia is a

cause of concern for Pakistan and we will continue our support for

Azerbaijan on this issue."

 

Musharraf said during the talks, they also discussed issues including

the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Palestine question and

agreed to keep in touch with each other.

 

Agreements

 

Referring to the agreements signed between the two sides, President

Musharraf said they will lead the two countries to a new era of

cooperation.

 

The agreements pertain to promotion in the fields of tourism and

culture, cooperation in customs, cooperation in combating narcotics,

drug production and trafficking and cooperation in controlling

international terrorism and crime.

 

Joint Declaration

 

The two leaders also signed a joint declaration, reaffirming the two

countries' mutual commitment to maintaining and augmenting political,

trade and economic cooperation.

 

President Aliyev said both countries are eager to improve economic

cooperation. "It will continue to grow, and energy, tourism,

agriculture are some of the sectors for joint ventures between two

countries."

 

President Musharraf said Azerbaijan has expertise in oil and gas and

Pakistan can benefit from these, while Pakistan can extend expert

level cooperation to Azerbaijan in the fields of information

technology and banking sector.

 

JMC, Scolarships

 

The joint ministerial commission of the two countries, Musharraf

urged, must meet annually to provide follow-up to progress on various

issues to the mutual benefit of both.

 

President Musharraf also announced offering 15 scholarships to Azeri

students, including ten in the IT field and business administration

and five in the banking sector.

 

President Musharraf invited his host to visit Pakistan which

President Aliyev accepted. During the official talks, the two sides

also exchanged views on defence training and production.

[Armenian Highlander]

TURKISH MILITARY ASSISTANCE TO AZERBAIJAN AND THE FOREIGN MERCENERIES DURING THE KARABAGH WAR

 

The book by the Armenian historian Hayk Demoyan titled “Artsax drama - hidden Acts” (Yerevan, Caucasian Center for Iranian Studies, 2003) presents and analyzes documents and evidence concerning Turkish military assistance to Azerbaijan, as well as revealing the recruitment of Chechen and Afghan mercenaries by Azerbaijan during the 1991-1994 Karabagh war. Based on Armenian, Russian, Turkish, French, Azeri and American sources, as well as the archives of the Nagorno Artsax Republic’s State Department of National Security, Demoyan’s book reveals certain intriguing facts.

 

By 1991-92, Turkey had organized a number of secret air operations in order to transfer military equipment and ammunition to Azerbaijan. Meanwhile, Turkey embarked on a program of training for Azerbaijani officers and soldiers in military schools located in the territories of both Turkey and Azerbaijan. However, Ankara showed a certain degree of caution regarding the issue of directly supplying the Azerbaijani forces with military hardware and logistics, caution bred from the fear that Turkey’s clandestine action, namely, supplying the Azerbaijani armed forces with armaments, produced in Turkey or via NATO depots, could be exposed. Thus, Ankara provided the Azeri’s mainly with Soviet made weapons captured from the Iraqi Army after the Gulf War, as well as weapons imported from the former German Democratic Republic's army stores.

 

Concurrently, the Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT), in close cooperation with the Azerbaijani branch of the ultra-nationalistic Turkish organization “Grey Wolves” -which numbered over 15 thousand members-, began to implement meticulously planned activities. The Turkish branch of the organization started to recruit and post volunteers to special military bases of the Third Turkish field army, and then complete their further transfer to Azerbaijan. In the summer of 1992, when the situation along the Nakhichevan section of the Armenian-Azeri border became strained again, the Commander-in-Chief of the Turkish ground forces Muhittin Fisunogli declared that, “all necessary preparations are made and the army is waiting for the order to proceed to action.” As a response to that declaration the Commander-in-Chief of the United Armed Forces of the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States), Marshal Shaposhnikov, warned that the intervention of a third party in the conflict would lead to the outbreak of the Third World War.

 

1993 was a very decisive year for the Karabagh conflict. Turkey did its best to exert some influence on the resolution of the conflict in favor of Azerbaijan. Besides the fact that Turkey officially closed its border with Armenia on April 3, 1993, it also signed an agreement with Azerbaijan on the supply of light weaponry and the training of Azeri military specialists, blatantly violating the OSCE decision (February 1993) which prohibited any military supply to the zone of the Nagorno-Artsax conflict. Thanks to the revelations of former Ambassador of Greece to Armenia, Leonidas Chrisantopoulos, it became known that in October 1993 Turkey tried to use the parliamentary crisis in Russia in order to make incursions into Armenia. According to information from French intelligence sources, corroborated by the US Ambassador to Armenia, there was an agreement reached between the then speaker of the Russian parliament Ruslan Khasbulatov and Turkish PM Tansu Ciller that, in the case of an anti-Yeltsin fraction success, Khasbulatov would allow Turkey to execute a small-scale incursion into Armenia.

 

Curiously, the territory of the non-recognized Turkish republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) was also used for the recruitment of foreign mercenaries and military instructors. Through the initiative of English Lord Erskin and Turkish businessman Mustafa Mutlu, foreign and Turkish mercenaries were transferred to Azerbaijan. According to the Turkish and European press, in return for this service, the Azeris were obliged to deliver oil to Great Britain for 150 thousands US dollars per year. The territory of the TRNC was not chosen coincidentally, in so far as the jurisdictional scope of resolutions of international organizations does not extend to the territory of the non-recognized republic.

 

Also, Demoyan re-established the hidden links between the Azerbaijani government, Chechen and Afghan authorities, as well as revealing the agreements concluded between them concerning the supply of mercenaries to the Azeri armed forces. In early June 1992 the number of Chechen mercenaries in Artsax totaled approximately 300. They had been recruited on the basis of a military agreement signed between Azeri and Chechen authorities regarding the supply of human resources from Chechnya in exchange for military supply from Azerbaijan. After heavy losses Chechen fighters left Artsax battlefields, partially in connection with Inter-Chechen and Chechen-Russian problems...

[Armenian Highlander]

Russian air base in Armenia ready to open fire at NATO planes

 

Channel One TV, Moscow

4 May 04

 

Presenter Back in Soviet times airborne troops stationed in

Transcaucasia served as a reliable defence of the country's southern

borders. In the mid-1990s Russia's airspace in the area was left

without any defence. Armenia alone met Russia halfway and allowed for

the Russian Airborne Troops to remain on its territory.

 

Correspondent Aleksey Artemyev Fighters at the Russian air base

Erebuni have six minutes and not a second more to take off for a duty

flight and intercept a target that has illegally entered Armenia's

airspace. The end of the runway and the border with the neighbouring

country are separated by a distance of 15 km. The neighbouring country

is Turkey, a NATO member state, with a great number of air bases

stationed on its territory, including those belonging to the USA.

 

Two years ago Russian pilots cut short an attempt by a high-speed spy

plane to enter Armenia's airspace from Turkey. One should always be on

alert here. All interceptors on combat duty here are equipped with

four air-to-air missiles. The two bigger ones are located closer to

the fuselage and are capable of hitting a target within a distance of

up to 80 km. The two smaller ones are intended for close combat, they

are capable of hitting any target within 30 km. The equipment is

completely ready for combat.

 

NATO intelligence is monitoring the Russian air base in Armenia round

the clock. Two sites for direct tracking are situated on a slope of Mt

Ararat. The Turkish Air Force are trying to have every Russian pilot

under control.

 

Valeriy Ded, captioned as fighter pilot We do not normally meet them

in the air. At times we spot them on our radar screens, both on board

and on the ground. They know every pilot of ours, our voices, if not

our names.

 

Correspondent The Erebuni air base is part of the Russian air defence

complex situated in Armenia, the only one remaining in Transcaucasia,

protecting Russia's southern borders. The main air defence forces are

located high up in the mountains, not far from Gyumri, formerly

Leninakan. There are four launch pads for air defence missile systems

Kub and S-300 there.

 

We were the only TV crew that was given a chance to film a Russian air

defence command post on alert duty. Unidentified officer This facility allows

us to see the sites where the air defence batteries are stationed as well as

the sectors they are facing. We can give them the whereabouts of a target

to hit.

 

Correspondent This radar station is able to operate within a radius of

300 km. The nearest NATO airfields in Turkey are situated at a

distance of about 200 km. In other words, the Russian command post is

able to spot any plane takeoff from any of the airfields.

 

Aleksey Gorskiy, captioned as commander of the combat command and

control division In May 2001 we began our test alert duty. We did not

have a right to open fire at trespassers. The Turks used to fly along

the border all the time. After the alert duty started in earnest in

October ?2001 , in other words when we were allowed to open fire, they

hardly ever appear here now.

 

Correspondent All the Russian air defence divisions stationed in

Armenia are working in close coordination with each other. In everyday

life pilots and anti-aircraft gunners are rivals. The air base is

proud of its unique barracks, containing fish water tanks,

mantelpieces and even a small zoo of their own. Meanwhile, the air

defence system command division claims that they have the best cook

and cuisine.

[Armenian Highlander]

CHECHEN WEB SITE SAYS ARMENIAN ARMY "ABSORBED INTO" RUSSIAN ARMY BASE

 

Chechenpress web site, Tbilisi

30 Mar 04

 

Chechenpress correspondent Muslim Mamedov: The Armenian armed forces

have now been fully absorbed into a strong military group "codenamed"

the 102nd military base of Russia in Armenia. I have discovered

another confirmation of this in a Nezavisimoye Voyennoye Obozreniye

(No 10, 2004) report entitled "Two sides of the 102nd military base".

 

But, in fact, there are no two sides, but there is a close merger. I

quote the aforesaid report: "There are several hundred metres between

the two military units on Yerevan's outskirts. The Russian regiment is

nearer to the town, the communications regiment of the Armenian armed

forces is away from it. The two units are part of Russia's 102nd

military base on Armenian territory, i.e. somewhat this is one

Armenian structure". Second, when asked by a Nezavisimoye Voyennoye

Obozreniye correspondent: "What about the division of duties from the

viewpoint of solving military tasks?", the commander of the

communications regiment of the Armenian armed forces, Lt-Col

Stepanyan, said: "There is no precise division. Both our and Russian

signallers fulfil any tasks set by the command".

 

The command is naturally Russian.

 

Is it possible to speak about Armenia's independence, if its army is

completely subordinate to Russian generals?

 

It is known that the 426th aircraft group, which is part of Russia's

102nd military base, is involved in attacks in Chechnya. One can

naturally assume that Armenia is involved in these attacks as well.

 

The second important point: the 772nd separate reconnaissance

battalion of the Russian base in Armenia has been actively involved in

acts of sabotage throughout the South Caucasus. It means the

involvement of the Armenian armed forces' reconnaissance in these

sabotage activities as it is part of the 772nd separate battalion of

the Russian base.

 

(Passage omitted: Armenians face problems in Russia's Krasnodar

Territory and other regions)

 

I would like to ask Russia's 2m Armenians: do they approve of

Armenia's decision to allow the Russian colonisers to establish full

control over the Armenian army?

[Bakersfieldian]

Sounds good to me.

 

CHECHEN WEB SITE SAYS ARMENIAN ARMY "ABSORBED INTO" RUSSIAN ARMY BASE

I would like to ask Russia's 2m Armenians: do they approve of

Armenia's decision to allow the Russian colonisers to establish full

control over the Armenian army?

style_images/master/snapback.png

[Boghos]

Pakista and Azerbaijan, nothing new. I much rather Armenia be allied with India, in any case, which is the case to a certain extent.

 

Chechens and its similar types: these have always been at odds with Armenians, to put it mildly, we shouldn´t expect anything good from them. Ever.

[Armenian Highlander]

Agency WPS/DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)

August 27, 2004, Friday

 

ARMENIA BUILDS UP ITS MILITARY MIGHT AGAINST THE BACKGROUND OF THE DEEPENING CRISIS IN THE RELATIONS WITH AZERBAIJAN THAT THREATENS WITH FULL-SCALE WAR

by Samvel Martirosjan (Yerevan)

 

 

The Russian-Armenian military cooperation develops quite dynamically.

Not long ago, Russia lent a sympathetic ear to Armenia's request

concerning training of up to 150 officers. Complicated situation in

the Caucasus forces the authorities of Armenia to pay unfeigned

attention to national defense. According to official data alone, the

2004 Armenian state budget allocated almost $82 million for military

needs, an almost 10% rise against war spendings in 2003. Estimates of

the International Institute of Strategic Studies (London) show that

in 2002 Armenia was the CIS leader in the arms spendings to GDP ratio

- 6.4%, an equivalent of $162 million.

 

The CIA claims that as far as this particular parameter is concerned,

Armenia is the 11th in the world; it spent $135 million on its army

in 2001. When the closed parliamentary hearing of fulfillment of the

2003 budget was over not long ago, Armenian Defense Minister Serzh

Sarkisjan said that arms spendings would be increased next year

again. Sarkisjan refused to elaborate but said that the Armenian

national army was initiating a program of rearmament.

 

It should be noted that the population of Armenia, not exactly a

wealthy country, does not object to these measures taken by national

leaders. The population is perfectly aware of the undeclared war with

Azerbaijan that is under way. Serious clashes are regularly reported

in the areas where Armenian and Azerbaijani troops face each other;

shots have been fired by sharpshooters for a decade (ever since the

cease-fire on the Artsax front was signed). Moreover, official

Yerevan positions itself as a guarantor of security of Artsax.

 

Turkey is another potential enemy. Diplomatic relations with Turkey

have never been established. Ankara is still blocking the border with

Armenia and pursuing an openly anti-Armenian policy. Sociologists of

the Armenian Center of National and Strategic Studies discovered that

47.5% respondents in Armenia believe that the war with Azerbaijan may

be resumed within five years, and 7% more expect a Turkish aggression

within the same span of time.

 

Figures

 

Armenian national army is considered one of the most combat ready in

the Caucasus. These days, it is over 60,000 men strong. According to

the CIA, there are 810,000 men in Armenia aged 15 to 59 and almost

650,000 of them are fit for combat. Most experts say, however, that

mobilization resources of Armenia amount to 300,000 men, i.e. almost

10% of the total population (over 3.2 million).

 

Under the Treaty on Conventional Arms in Europe, in 2001 Armenia

declared 102 T-72 tanks and 204 armored vehicles (most of them

infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers). With the

military hardware the Treaty on Conventional Arms in Europe does not

apply to, Armenia has up to 700 armored vehicles. Its artillery

comprises 225 pieces of 122 mm and larger calibers including 50

multiple rocket launchers.

 

The Armenian Air Force includes five SU-25 ground-attack aircraft,

one MIG-25, 35 helicopters (the latter include twelve MI-24 attack

helicopters), and 3,000 servicemen. Yerevan intends to build up this

component of its Armed Forces. Not long ago, Defense Ministry of

Slovenia proclaimed the sale of ten SU-25s to Armenia (nine SU-25K

one-seaters and one SU-25UBK two-seater). The consignment will cost

Armenia $1 million. Armenia bought two IL-76 military transports from

Russia not long ago. The transports were bought at Russian domestic

prices and made it to Armenia together with Defense Minister of

Russia Sergei Ivanov.

 

Armenia builds up its Air Force in the hope of making it a match for

the Azerbaijani, but its antiaircraft defense is considered the best

throughout the Caucasus. Armenian antiaircraft defense comprises an

antiaircraft missile brigade and two regiments armed with almost 100

antiaircraft complexes of various models and modifications (Osa,

Krug, S-75, and S-125). Numerical strength is estimated at about

2,000 servicemen. Armenian antiaircraft defense developed in a hurry

in the war over Artsax when Azerbaijani Air Force regularly and

energetically bombarded Armenian trenches and settlements both in

Artsax and in Armenia's own border districts. There was nothing

Armenia could do about it then. By 1993, however, it already had a

formidable antiaircraft defense in Armenia itself and in the Republic

of Nagorno-Artsax. Its deployment cut Azerbaijani advantage in the

sky to the minimum.

 

These days, the Armenian skies are controlled by Armenian and Russian

antiaircraft defense units on joint combat duty since 1999. There are

at least 30 MIG-29 fighters and a regiment of S-300s quartered on the

territory of Armenia.

 

Armenia is a member of the Organization of the CIS Collective

Security Treaty. As such, it participates in all events organized

within its framework. In any case, Russia is Armenia's oldest and

traditional ally. Ever since the regaining of sovereignty, the tandem

of Moscow and Yerevan has served as one of the few examples of bona

fide military-political cooperation in the Commonwealth. There is

practically no discord between Russia and Armenia in this sphere.

 

Russia and Armenia together defend the Armenian airspace or, rather,

the southern border of the Commonwealth. Armenian borders with Turkey

and Iran are manned by almost 2,000 Russian bodyguards who serve

shoulder to shoulder with their Armenian counterparts. Yet, it is the

102nd Military Base in Gyumri that is Russia's major outpost in

Armenia. Unlike Tbilisi or Baku, official Yerevan never brings up the

subject of withdrawal of the Russian troops. When Sarkisjan is asked

the question, he never answers believing it a rhetoric question.

Armenian society regards the Russian troops as a covering force

defending it from the Turkish aggression.

 

Until recently, the 102nd Military Base had 74 tanks, 17 battle

infantry vehicles, 148 armored personnel carriers, 84 artillery

pieces, up to 30 MIG-23s and MIG-29s, and a regiment of S-300

antiaircraft complexes. In the last eighteen months, however, a great

deal of military hardware was moved there from Georgia. Armenia gave

the land and objects used by the 102nd Military Base over to Russia

and covers some communal services.

 

Officer training is another sphere of Russian-Armenian military

cooperation. In the first years of sovereignty when Armenia did not

have military educational establishments of its own, officers of its

army were trained in Russia. Even now when Armenia has a military

college on its own territory, the Armenian officer corps honors the

tradition and is trained at Russian military educational

establishments. On a visit to Armenia in late May, Ivanov said that

600 Armenian servicemen are being trained in Russia. "Armenia asks

for the permission to send 150 servicemen to Russia in 2005, and

Russia gave its consent," Ivanov said.

 

It seems that Moscow and Yerevan do not plan to stop. The first

meeting of the joint Russian-Armenian government panel for

military-technical cooperation will take place this autumn. According

to Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov, Russian factories will participate

in the Armenian program of military hardware modernization. He even

said that Russia is prepared to supply the necessary spare parts an

equipment.

 

Belarus is another ally of Armenia in the Organization of the CIS

Collective Security Treaty. The two countries signed a treaty in

2002. Under the document, Armenia will receive light weapons, armored

vehicles, ordnance, and optical devices in return for spare parts and

gadgets for military hardware. Armenia also intends to have its heavy

military hardware upgraded at Belarusian factories. Lieutenant

General Sergei Gurulev, Chief of the General Staff of the Belarusian

Armed Forces, says that the Armenian-Belarusian military contacts

"become systematic and deliberate."

 

Do not forget NATO

 

Greece is Armenia's best ally in the Alliance. Greece and Armenia

share ancient ties and a common enemy - Turkey. Armenian officers are

trained in Greece. Every now and then Athens puts into motion

military aid programs. In 2003, the two countries signed another

military cooperation accord under which Greece will up the number of

Armenian servicemen trained at the military and military-medical

academies in Athens.

 

Armenia became a peacekeeper in February. It sent 34 servicemen to

Kosovo where they became an element of the Greek contingent. Armenian

servicemen in Kosovo are paid by the Greeks. Yerevan has been shifting towards NATO lately, mostly within the framework of the NATO's Partnership for Peace Program. Cooperative Best Effort exercise (the first one where Russia was represented) was run on the territory of Armenia in 2003.

 

Armenian cooperation with NATO is mostly declarative for the time

being, but the United States - the country steadily upping its clout

with countries of the region - has far-reaching plans with regard to

Yerevan. In early 2003, the Pentagon announced several major military

programs in the Caucasus. Washington's military aid to Armenia in

2004 will amount to $5 million even though the US Administration

intended to restrict it to $2 million at first. Armenia and the

United States signed a military-technical cooperation accord in

April. Some articles in the American media imply that the accord

specifies the use of Armenian airfields by the US AF.

 

Proclaiming complementariness as its foreign political doctrine,

official Yerevan never misses a chance to advance its contacts with

Washington. When the war in Iraq was under way, Armenia remained

neutral. It neither supported the war and America's action nor

condemned them. These days, however, the parliament and government of

Armenia are working on the legislation that will enable Yerevan to

send servicemen to Iraq. The Cabinet already endorsed the decision of

the Defense Ministry to subscribe to the memorandum "On the command

and settlement of issues in connection with activities of the

international division in the forces of coalition in Iraq". At first,

Armenia will probably send 10 de-miners and 3 doctors and some trucks

to Iraq.

 

Moreover, Armenia even permitted the United States to modernize its

communications, one of the most vulnerable items. Yerevan expects to

get communications means from American companies. The deliveries will

be paid for by the White House (the sum amounts to $7 million).

Commenting on it, Sarkisjan said that Russia is quite understanding.

"We are allies. It means that the strengthening of one partner will

benefit the other," said Sarkisjan. "We initiated the process a year

ago, and I found our Russian colleagues quite understanding." He said

that from military cooperation with the United States Armenia

expected to up combat potential of its own army.

 

So, Armenia ups its military might against the background of the

deepening crisis in the relations with Azerbaijan, the crisis that

threatens to deteriorate into another full-scale war. It should be

noted as well that in any conflict the Armenian national army may

count on servicemen from Artsax. In fact, the Artsax army even

leaves the Armenian behind in some parameters. Artsax armed

formations cannot match the Armenian army in manpower (about 20,000

servicemen and mobilization resources at 60,000 men), but they are

certainly ahead of Armenia in heavy military hardware: 316 tanks, 324

armored vehicles, 322 artillery pieces of calibers over 122 mm, 44

multiple rocket launchers, and the antiaircraft defense system that

performed flawlessly in the hostilities in the 1990's.

 

Translated by A. Ignatkin

 

Source: http://groong.usc.edu/news/msg92385.html

Edited September 16, 2004 by Armenian Highlander

[gamavor]

Pakistan (what a name) is a staunch ally of USA. Maybe Americans liked them because of their President's first name - PERVEZ Musharraf!

[Armenian Highlander]

RUSSIAN-ARMENIAN MILITARY COOPERATION POSES THREAT TO SECURITY IN SOUTH CAUCASUS - AZERBAIJANI DEFENSE MINISTER

 

The Azerbaijani Defense Minister was quoted not too long ago as saying: Russian-Armenian military cooperation has begun to pose a "real threat" to the entire South Caucasus. "The movement of a considerable amount of military equipment withdrawn from Georgia into Armenia seriously worries Baku. "Such actions by Russia are destabilizing the situation in the region, which is already fragile," the Defense Minister said. "This problem has existed for the past few years and has an extremely negative impact on the situation in the South Caucasus," the Defense Minister further stated.

 

He further recalled that "the problem of the unsanctioned supply of Russian weapons worth over $1 billion to Armenia between 1993 and 1996 has still not been resolved." Baku "has more than once asked Russia to solve this problem," the Defense Minister said. "However, we do not see any actions from Russia in response. Moreover, over the past few years Russia has supplied additional modern weapons to Armenia and a new large aviation group has been formed," he said. According to the information provided to him, he said, a considerable amount of the Russian weapons and military equipment supplied to Armenia "is later moved to Azerbaijani lands (Nagorno Karabagh) occupied by Armenia."