Armenia builds a multi-vector security system: Defense Minister

Armenia is buildingĀ a multi-vector security system, taking into consideration the existing challenges, Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan said at NATOā€™s Rose Roth seminar in Yerevan.

Besides the traditional threats, the Minister pointed to the rapidly aggravating challenges, such as trans-national terrorism and radicalism, which isĀ ā€œknocking the door of the South Caucasus.ā€

ā€œIn a short period of time the so-called Islamic State managed to expand the areaĀ under its control and continues to stretch in different directions, Ā automatically challenging the South Caucasus, as two of the latterā€™s neighbors ā€“ Turkey and Iran ā€“ are in some way involved in the developments around ISIS,ā€ the Defense Minister said.

ā€œBeing a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, Armenia actively cooperates with NATO and its member states and views the relations with NATO as an indispensible part of its security system,ā€ Minister Ohanyan said.

The Defense Minister noted that ā€œArmenia is the only CSTO member state and the only strategic ally of Russia, which has been actively involved in NATO-led peacekeeping missions.

Speaking about NATOā€™s role in ensuring security in the region, Minister Ohanyan said ā€œbeing the guarantor of security in the Euro-Atlantic area, NATO should play a distinct role in defending the South Caucasus from outer challenges and support the negotiations on conflict settlement in different formats.”

ā€œNATOā€™s involvement in the region should be targeted against challengesĀ  common for all countries of the region, irrespective of the collective security systems they have chosen to join,ā€ he added.