NATO TO BROADEN CONSULTATIVE, EXPERT ASSISTANCE TO ARMENIA
ITAR-TASS
February 29, 2012 Wednesday 10:44 PM GMT+4
Russia
The North Atlantic Alliance is ready to further broaden consultative
and expert assistance to Armenia in the field of defence, NATO
Assistant Secretary General Defence Policy and Planning, Ambassador
Huseyin Dirioz said at a meeting with Armenian Defence Minister Seiran
Oganyan on Wednesday, February 29.
The NATO officer’s visit to Armenia is timed to coincide with the
arrival of a joint group of NATO in the country for evaluating
the Defence Ministry’s progress in implementing the individual
partnership plan with the alliance as well as the national army
planning and review.
The sides discussed the main areas of cooperation between the Armenian
Defence Ministry and NATO, as well as the agenda of the upcoming NATO
summit to be held in Chicago with the participation of the member
states of the Partnership for Peace programme.
Armenia also participated in the NATO-led operation in Afghanistan. At
Germany’s request, the number of Armenian troops in Afghanistan has
been increased from 45 to 130. They will stay in Afghanistan until
the end of 2012.
“As far as the exchange of experience is concerned, the participation
of Armenian troops in the international force in Afghanistan can
hardly be overestimated. This allows our units to get to know the
latest achievements and the Western combat art, use modern weapons,
hardware and high technologies provided by Germany in combat, and
learn new tactics,” Oganyan said earlier.
“This is not only participation in multinational operations but also
intensive training” as well as “education for our troops”, he added.
Initially, the Armenian contingent was composed of a motorised infantry
platoon of 36 troops, three liaison officers and a military medic. They
serve in a German unit under NATO’s Regional Command North and carry
out a peacekeeping mission within the International Security Assistance
Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan.
The Armenian parliament voted for the participation in the
international peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan on December 8, 2009.
The International Security Assistance Force is a NATO-led security
mission in Afghanistan established by the United Nations Security
Council on December 20, 2001 by Resolution 1386.
All NATO members have contributed troops to the ISAF, as well as some
other partner states of NATO.
Armenia and NATO will continue consultations on Thursday, March 1. The
focus will be on mutual obligations in the field of defence reform
in Armenia and international military cooperation, as well as review
of assistance needed for the implementation of reform plans.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Disclaimer: This article was contributed and translated into English by Emil Lazarian. While we strive for quality, the views and accuracy of the content remain the responsibility of the contributor. Please verify all facts independently before reposting or citing.
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