Military clash preparations not observed from adversary – Armenian
military General Staff

news.am
October 15, 2012 | 17:00

YEREVAN. – Armenia will be ready in case of a war, Combat Training
Department Head of the General Staff of Armenia’s Armed Forces, Major
General Ishkhan Matevosyan stated, during a press conference on
Monday, commenting on the bellicose statements made by the Azerbaijani
authorities.

`No war starts suddenly in the morning. The war, or the military
confrontation, has a latent period. Our state’s intelligence agencies
are following those changes. As of today, preparatory activities for a
military clash are not observed from our adversary,’ the Major General
noted.

In his words, the militaristic statements by Azerbaijan have several
objectives. `First, [they are] for the domestic `consumer.’ I am
convinced that we will be ready in case of a war,’ Matevosyan said.

In response to the query as to whether Azerbaijan could hit the
airplanes flying into the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic capital city’s
Stepanakert Airport, he noted: `In theory, the opponent has the
capability to strike. [But] The matter should be considered in the
diplomatic, [and] political dimension. [Yet] We, the soldiers, will do
our job.’

In his turn, Armenian Defense Minister’s Press Secretary Artsrun
Hovhannisyan noted that `we have heard such statements a lot ion the
past twenty years,’ but none of them have materialized.