Russia & CIS Presidential Bulletin
November 30, 2007
PM PLEDGES TO BROADEN RELATIONS WITH RUSSIA, U.S. IF ELECTED …
Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian said Armenia’s foreign policy could
undergo changes after the presidential elections.Nothing can be ruled
out. Policy is shaped by people, so anything may happen depending on
who is elected, Sarkisian said on Public Television, when asked
whether changes were possible to the country’s foreign policy after
the 2008 election.
Sarkisian said, however, that if he were elected, no serious changes
would occur. He said he had been involved in forming Armenia’s
foreign policy for a long time. I think we have been pursuing a
correct policy and we’ll continue to strengthen friendly relations
with Russia, Europe and the United States, the prime minister said.
Armenia’s next presidential elections will be held on February 19
2008. Ten candidates, including the prime minister, have announced
they will run.
The Dashnaktsutyun party nominated the parliamentary deputy speaker,
Vaan Ovannisian, as a presidential candidate on Friday.
The Dashnaktsutyun Revolutionary Federation is one of Armenia’s
oldest parties. It is 115 years old.
It has a membership of 7,000 in Armenia and about 25,000 abroad.
In the current parliament the party has a faction of 16 members.
The party also holds three ministerial portfolios.
At the same time Azeri Defense Ministry spokesman Eldar Sabiroglu
said at a press conference on Friday, that Azerbaijan is not
violating its quotas on armaments under the Treaty on Conventional
Armed Forces in Europe (CFE).
"Armenia, which is an aggressor country, has been accusing us of that
[of exceeding the limits stipulated by the CFE] for years. However,
Azerbaijan has not violated the limits," Sabiroglu said.
When Azerbaijan and Armenia were in the process of joining the CFE,
they were both allowed to have an equal amount of weapons, "although
this is unfair, taking into account the size of Azerbaijan’s
territory and its population," he said.
Sabiroglu described Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian’s
statement alleging that Azerbaijan has exceeded its CFE limits as an
attempt "to blacken Azerbaijan in the international community’s
eyes."
"Armenia itself is building up its arms and it is doing so quite
actively, and everybody knows who is helping it," Sabiroglu said.
"Armenia was once given weapons worth $1 billion, which at first they
tried to conceal, but then later had to admit to," he said.
"The same happened later as well," he said.
Commenting on the possibility that Russia and the U.S. could jointly
use the Gabala radar station, Sabiroglu said the station belongs to
Azerbaijan, and therefore no decisions on its use can be made without
permission from Baku.
As for the plans of using the radar station after 2012, when the term
of its lease by Russia expires, Sabiroglu said, "There have been no
specific proposals so far on its use in the future."
Besides the risk of another war between Azerbaijan and Armenia
continues to exist, Sabiroglu told.
"The risk of an outbreak of war always exists and there is no
guarantee against it, Sabiroglu said.
"What can be done, if the talks are dragging on for so long? Let
international organizations liberate our occupied territory
peacefully, or allow Azerbaijan to do so on its own?" he said.
"Morale is very strong in our army. The army has an ample supply of
modern weapons and is prepared to free the occupied territory,"
Sabiroglu said.
"Azerbaijan is in a state of war today and is acting accordingly.
We do not threaten any country, but 20% of our territory remains
occupied. Naturally, appropriate steps are being made. This is
Azerbaijan’s exclusive right," said Sabiroglu.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
