ARMENIA, KARABAKH ‘NEUTRALIZING’ AZERI MILITARY BUILDUP, SAYS OHANIAN
Asbarez
Wednesday, November 17th, 2010
YEREVAN
Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian insisted on Wednesday that
Azerbaijan has not gained the upper hand in the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict despite its growing defense budget fueled by soaring oil
revenues.
Meeting with students at Yerevan State University who will soon be
drafted to the Armenian army, Ohanian said Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh
are successfully “neutralizing” the Azerbaijani military’s numerical
superiority in weapons and personnel.
“We are maintaining the balance of forces vis-a-vis the Azerbaijani
armed forces, not with quantitative data but by raising the qualitative
standards of our armed forces,” he said. “We are enhancing the
combat-readiness and fighting spirit of our armed forces.”
The minister added that the Armenian side is also receiving “modern
weaponry.” He did not elaborate, though.
The remarks came just days after President Serzh Sarkisian warned
that Azerbaijan will be dealt a “devastating and final” blow if it
attempts to resolve the Karabakh conflict by force. Sarkisian issued
the warning as he and Ohanian watched what Armenian officials called
the biggest ever exercises held by the Karabakh Armenian army.
Armenian Public Television reported on Monday that the two-week
maneuvers involved thousands of soldiers, hundreds of tanks and
armored vehicles as well as heavy artillery. It said the tanks and
artillery systems fired more than two thousand live rounds as the
troops simulated an Armenian counteroffensive against Azerbaijan.
Sarkisian admitted that the exercises were held in response to
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s frequent threats to reconquer
Nagorno-Karabakh and the liberated territories.
Aliyev’s government announced recently plans for another sharp rise
in Azerbaijani defense spending. It is projected to reach $3.1 billion
next year, a sum exceeding Armenia’s entire state budget. The Armenian
government plans to spend only about $400 million on defense in 2011.
The spending gap is somewhat offset by Armenia’s military alliance
with Russia, which enables it to acquire Russian-made weapons at
cut-down prices or free of charge. A new Russian-Armenian defense
agreement signed in August commits Moscow to supplying Yerevan with
“modern and compatible weaponry and special military hardware.”
“The existing situation allows us to say that the positions of
the Republic of Armenia and the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic have not
weakened,” Ohanian said. “On the contrary, today we have a situation
where our positions have strengthened on both the diplomatic and
military fronts.”
Ohanian also downplayed a recent spate of non-combat deaths and other
violent incidents in the Armenian army ranks, which sparked a public
uproar and led to the sackings and arrests of several dozen servicemen.
“Of course, this is a worrisome issue,” he said, answering a question
from a student. “But analyses conducted in the army and statistics lead
to the conclusion that, on the whole, abuses and other extraordinary
incidents in the armed forces are decreasing, rather than increasing.”
Another student wondered which military structure in the country
is most corrupt. “There is no [military] area where corruption is
particularly rampant,” replied Ohanian. “It all depends on the moral
integrity of the commanders of a particular field. We are making
appropriate efforts in that direction.”
From: A. Papazian