ArmenPress
Jan 26 2005
ARMEN AVETISIAN’S FELLOWS SEEK HIS RELEASE
YEREVAN, JANUARY 26, ARMENPRESS; A senior member of the
ultra-nationalist Armenian Aryan Union told a news conference today
that party members will appeal against a local court decision that
sanctioned the arrest of their leader, Armen Avetisian, on charges of
inciting ethnic intolerance late Monday.
Armen Avetisian was placed in custody pending a criminal
investigation into his anti-Jewish statements. He is prosecuted under
an article of the Armenian Criminal Code that envisaged between three
and six years’ imprisonment for persons who incite `ethnic, racial
and religious hatred.’
His party fellows have established a committee in defense of
Avetisian together with Hayots Toon (Armenian Home) non-governmental
organization. A lawyer Melania Arustamian will defend his interests
during the trial.
In a series of newspaper interviews and TV appearances Avetisian
used to put the blame for Armenia’s political and socioeconomic woes
on Jews. He has also won a notorious fame in recent months claiming
that some government and parliament members are homosexuals.

ArmenPress
Jan 26 2005
KARABAGH DEPUTY FM MEETS OSCE ENVOY
STEPANAKERT, JANUARY 26, ARMENPRESS: Deputy foreign minister of
Nagorno Karabagh, Masis Mailian, met today in Stepanakert with the
personal representative of the OSCE chairman-in-office Imre
Palatinus, based in Tbilisi, the capital city of neighboring Georgia.
Nagorno Karabagh foreign affairs ministry said Palatinus introduced
Torsten Aren, the new field assistant of the OSCE personal
representative.
After praising good working relations between the ministry and the
OSCE mission Masis Mailian expressed hope they will continue in
future too. He pledged foreign ministry’s willingness to continue to
support the activities of the OSCE representative and create good
working conditions for the mission.
The two men discussed also a range of issues connected with the
January 30 visit of an OSCE fact-finding visit to Nagorno Karabagh.
Also today Karabagh foreign minister Arman Melikian met with
another personal representative of the OSCE chairman-in-office
Andrzey Kasprzik, who heads a mission overseeing ceasefire regime on
the line of contact between Armenian and Azeri troops. They have also
discussed the January 30 visit of the OSCE delegation that comprises
representatives of Germany, Sweden, Italy and Finland.
In a related news Karabagh defense minister Seyran Ohanian told
today journalists that the army has significantly reinforced the
frontline positions. He also said that the number of peace-time army
fatalities is still big, but did not elaborate.

ArmenPress
Jan 26 2005
GOVERNMENT APPROVES FOOD SECURITY CONCEPT
YEREVAN, JANUARY 26, ARMENPRESS: The Armenian government approved
on January 25 the “concept of food security”, whereby it wants to
make Armenia meet international standards of self-sufficiency in
agricultural products by 2015. The program envisages that in ten
years Armenia’s agriculture and food processing industry will be able
to secure 75 percent of domestic demand in foodstuffs.
Hrachya Tspnetsian, a senior official from the Agriculture
Ministry, said after the Tuesday government session that Armenia
meets now only 55 of its domestic demand for foodstuff. He added that
the success of food security program depends largely on the
purchasing power of the population. Another goal of the program is to
enable every Armenian to consume at least 2,100 kilocalories a day,
an amount which doctors say is the “physiological minimum.”
Armenia has to import now all consumed sugar, cooking oil and part
of meat, wheat, but imports no fruits, potatoes and other vegetables.
The food security concept was developed by an inter-ministerial
commission. According to national statistical service, monthly
earnings of each member of an urban household make 12,000 drams
(approximately $25) and in rural areas 7,000 drams. Fifty-three
percent of that money comes from wages, 10 percent from sale of
agricultural products, 10.5 percent from state benefits and
allowances and another 22 percent from money remittances from abroad.
An average Armenian family spends two thirds of its budget on food.

ArmenPress
Jan 26 2005
GREECE DONATES 100,000 EUROS TO ARMENIA
YEREVAN, JANUARY 26, ARMENPRESS: The government of Greece has
pledged today 100,000 euros ($137,000) to the UN World Food program
(WFP) for Armenia. The money will be used to provide food assistance
to vulnerable families in Armenian provinces of Tavush, Shirak,
Gegharkunik and Lori.
Speaking at a presentation ceremony at the Greece’s embassy in
Yerevan ambassador Antonios Vlavianos said his government was the
first to respond to WFP’s request to help support food security
program in Armenia.
The ceremony was attended also by WFP Representative and Country
Director Armenia, Muzaffar Choudhery.
Muzaffar Choudhery noted that the donation will help the
vulnerable families to resist winter hardships. He said part of the
money will be spent on buying flour, which will be distributed to
around 40,000 families. Part of the aid will be used for providing
around 30,000 schoolchildren with lunches. Also another part of the
aid will be directed to Food for Work and Food for Training courses.
Greece was followed by Japan, whose government has sent 2,000 tons of
wheat.
At the conclusion the ambassador said he hopes that Armenia will
soon no longer need such aid programs. He also said the embassy will
be supervising purchase of flour and its distribution.

LasVegas Sun, NV
Jan 26 2005
Armenian sisters in ‘unusual’ case are called flight risks
By Timothy Pratt

LAS VEGAS SUN
Federal immigration officials on Tuesday said the case of the
teenaged Armenian sisters threatened with deportation is “highly
unusual” and said the teens haven’t been released to their father
because they are considered a flight risk.
The Sarkisian sisters’ case is one of only several dozen of the more
than 10,000 cases in a year at the Los Angeles regional office that
are drawn out due to a federal court-issued stay, said Virginia Kice,
spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Gloria Kee, Los Angeles field office director for the immigration
office’s detention and removal section, also said the girls have not
been released to their father, Rouben, in Las Vegas, while the court
case is pending because they are considered “a flight risk.”
Although the girls’ father is a legal U.S. resident and runs
Tropicana Pizza in Henderson, the teens’ mother is in the country
illegally and “is an absconder,” Kee said.
“There is quite honestly a concern — will the family actually
cooperate in bringing them back?”
In the vast majority of cases in which deportation orders are issued,
immigrants are usually sent out of the United States immediately,
Kice said.
But Tuesday was the 12th day Emma, 18, and Mariam Sarkisian, 17, were
held in Los Angeles by federal authorities, pending a Las Vegas
federal magistrate’s decision on arguments for and against their
deportation.
During that time, as publicity about the case has spread, public
support has grown and Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Las Vegas, sent a
letter dated Jan. 24 to the federal office urging “strong,
humanitarian consideration for deferred action” in the case.
The magistrate’s decision may uphold the federal government’s order
to send the girls to Armenia, a country that is so foreign to them
they don’t even speak its language, having been brought to the United
States when they were under 5 years old.
Kee said the Sarkisian family knew the day would come when the
sisters would be sent back to their birthplace since an order for
their deportation was issued in 1993.
Rouben and Anoush Sarkisian arrived to the United States in 1991.
Three more daughters were born in this country. They were divorced,
and Rouben gained the status of a legal resident — the step below
citizenship — when he married a U.S. citizen. That marriage later
broke apart.
Anoush never obtained legal U.S. status, Kee said.
During the 1990s each parent attempted to gain legal status for their
two older daughters, Kee said.
“On two occasions, the family came close to obtaining some sort of
benefit. But it was discovered that they could not once it was
revealed they had earlier orders of deportation,” she said.
Rouben has said in recent days that he thought otherwise and
attempted to obtain proof of the girls’ status in July, only to be
told of the deportation order. It took until some time shortly before
Jan. 14 for immigration authorities to obtain travel permits for the
girls from the Armenian Consulate in Los Angeles, at which point the
girls were detained.
But the family’s lawyers won a stay against their departure while a
federal magistrate reviews the team’s arguments and those of the
federal government.
The government filed its argument Tuesday.
The family’s lawyers are hoping the government will allow Rouben
several months to become a citizen, at which point he could petition
for his daughters to become residents.
Another reason the case is unusual, officials said, is Emma is an
adult, while Mariam is a minor. This means Mariam is not what is
known as an “unaccompanied minor,” and an agreement forged in April
between immigration authorities and the Department of Health and
Human Services regarding the care of such minors does not apply, they
said.
That agreement includes provisions for the medical care of a minor
and their educational and other needs, according to Gregory Chen,
director of policy analysis and research at the U.S. Committee for
Refugees and Immigrants.
Kee said that although the detention of the girls “was meant to be
temporary,” a nurse is available to them if they have any health
problems. She said that immigrants awaiting resolution of their cases
are examined within 14 days of the date they are detained.
But, Kee said, the system typically doesn’t wind up having to spend
so much time taking care of people who have been ordered deported.

LasVegas Sun, NV
Jan 26 2005
Editorial: Don’t break family apart
LAS VEGAS SUN
Two Las Vegas girls, whose only crime was to have been brought to the
United States by their father when they were 4 and 3, are being
detained in a federal holding cell in Los Angeles, awaiting
deportation. They’ve been there 11 days now. It’s up to a federal
magistrate to decide whether they should be separated from their
family, including three other sisters, or be sent to Armenia. That is
their country of birth, but, to them, it’s an alien land where they
have no friends or family, no language skills, no means of supporting
themselves.
Only some desperate calls by their family’s attorney on Jan. 17
prevented them from being forcibly boarded onto a plane. On Jan. 18
they received a reprieve when the one flight to Moscow was full. On
Jan. 19, just three hours before their scheduled flight, their lawyer
was successful in appealing to a federal magistrate, who granted the
girls a stay while he reviewed the facts of the case.
The girls are Emma Sarkisian, 18, who graduated last June from Palo
Verde High School, and her sister, Mariam, 17, a student at Palo
Verde. Their parents, Rouben and Anoush Sarkisian, brought them to
the U.S. in 1991. The couple had three more daughters, who, having
been born here, are legal citizens. The marriage broke up and Rouben
married a U.S. citizen, automatically making him a U.S. “resident”
under immigration law. That marriage also broke up and the residency
status of the two girls remained in limbo until last July. That month
Rouben took the girls to immigration officials, hoping to confirm
their status as residents. Instead, officials determined they weren’t
legal citizens and ordered the girls to check in with them once a
month. They also began negotiating with Armenia to receive them.
As Armenia was a republic of the Soviet Union at the time of the
girls’ birth, officials of the now-independent republic at first
disclaimed any responsibility for them. But on Jan. 14, during their
monthly visit to the immigration office, the girls were told that
Armenia had decided to accept them and they were whisked away to the
cell in Los Angeles.
In our view, the girls should be immediately released from custody
and returned to their family while awaiting the magistrate’s
decision. We also believe it would be a miscarriage of justice for
the girls to be deported. This is the only country they’ve ever
known. Their father erred in not applying for their residency years
ago. But by any humanitarian standard, that is no reason for the
girls to be traumatized by tearing them away from their family, their
friends and the lives they’ve been living here.

Agence France Presse — English
January 26, 2005 Wednesday 3:37 AM GMT
List of officials confirmed for Auschwitz commemoration
WARSAW Jan 26
Survivors of the Auschwitz death camp and Red Army soldiers who
prised the camp from the Nazis will gather Thursday at the site in
southern Poland, along with officials from around the world, to mark
the 60th anniversary of the camp’s liberation.
There follows a list of officials the Polish presidency has confirmed
will attend the commemorative events at the camp on January 27:
Albania: Prime Minister Fatos Nano
Armenia: Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan
Austria: President Heinz Fischer
Azerbaijan: Parliamentary Speaker Murtuz Alasgarov
Belgium: King Albert II, Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt
Belarus: Council of the Republic Chairman Gennady Novitsky
Bosnia-Hercegovina: Chairman of the Presidency Borislav Paravac
Britain: Foreign Minister Jack Straw, Prince Edward
Bulgaria: President Georgy Parvanov
Canada: Governor General Adrienne Clarkson
Cyprus: President Tassos Papadopoulos
Croatia: President Stipe Mesic
Denmark: Prince Joachim
Estonia: President Arnold Ruutel
Finland: Parliamentary Speaker Paavo Lipponen
France: President Jacques Chirac, Foreign Minister Michel Barnier
Germany: President Horst Koehler
Greece: President Konstantinos Stefanopoulos
Spain: Senate President Francisco Javier Rojo Garcia
Hungary: President Ferenc Madl
Ireland: President Mary McAleese
Israel: President Moshe Katzav
Italy: Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi
Kazakhstan: Senate Chairman Nourtay Abikayev
Lithuania: Prime Minister Algirdas Brazauskas
Luxemburg: Grand Duke Henri
Latvia: President Vaira Vike-Freiberga
Macedonia: Deputy Foreign Minister Fuad Hasanovic
Netherlands: Queen Beatrix, Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende
Norway: Crown Prince Haakon, Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik
Portugal: Prime Minister Pedro Santana Lopes
Czech Republic: President Vaclav Klaus
Romania: President Traian Basescu
Russia: President Vladimir Putin
Serbia and Montenegro: President Svetozar Marovic
Slovakia: President Ivan Gasparovic
Slovenia: President Janez Drnovsek
Sweden: Crown Princess Viktoria, Parliamentary Speaker Bjorn von
Sydow
Switzerland: President Samuel Schmid
Turkey: Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul
Ukraine: President Viktor Yushchenko
United States: Vice President Dick Cheney
Vatican: Mgr Jean-Marie Lustiger
European Union: Commission President Manuel Barroso, Parliamentary
President Joseph Borell Fontelles

Agence France Presse — English
January 26, 2005 Wednesday 2:47 AM GMT
Armenian neo-Nazi leader charged with inciting ethnic hatred
YEREVAN Jan 26
The controversial leader of Armenia’s neo-Nazi Armyano-Arian Order
was arrested late Tuesday for inciting ethnic hatred with his
frequent anti-Semitic statements, the prosecutor general’s office
said.
Armen Avetisyan may face up to six years in jail for inciting
inter-ethnic and inter-religious hatred, propagating superiority of
one race over another and insulting the Armenian nation’s dignity,
officials said.
Avetisyan, who during his latest news conference called Armenia’s
authorities “yid and Mason agents that must be swept off the face of
the earth”, said “his trial will turn into a Nuremberg trial of the
Jews,” a local newspaper reported.
Avetisyan has also drawn up lists of those high-ranking officials he
says are homosexuals, demanding that they be fired and threatening to
publish the lists if they are not.

Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
January 26, 2005, Wednesday
PARTNERSHIP NOT FOR PEACE
SOURCE: Novye Izvestia, January 24, 2005, p. 4
by Mekhman Gafarly
BAKU FEARS THAT AZERBAIJAN WILL BE DRAWN INTO THE WAR THE UNITED
STATES MAY DECLARE ON IRAN
The words of the US President on the possibility of hostilities as a
solution to the problem of Iraq caused panic, and not only in the
United States, Baku fears that Azerbaijan will be drawn into the
American war on Iran.
Aina newspaper (Baku) reported in November 2004, that over 50
servicemen of the US Army were quartered on the military base near
the settlement of Chukhanly, Saljan district. Ilgar Verdiyev of the
Defense Ministry PR Department confirmed the information but pointed
out that the servicemen in question had come to Azerbaijan within the
framework of NATO’s Partnership for Peace Program. Azerbaijani
military experts do not think so. Former officers of the Defense
Ministry say that co-operation between Baku and NATO has already
exceeded the boundaries of Partnership for Peace Program. The
statement made by NATO General Secretary Jaap de Hoof Scheffer was
revealing in itself. He said in Baku the other day that Azerbaijan
had already been given its homework and had to do it now.
NATO’s Training and Equip Program is under way in Azerbaijan now. It
is under way on the testing site in Garaeibat near Baku and in the
environs of Chukhanly near the border with Iran. Both settlements are
located near military airfields. Recently upgraded to NATO standards,
the airfields may be used for air strikes at Iran.
Zerkalo Internet edition reports that there are reasons to believe
that the Americans intend to deploy TRML-3D mobile radars in
Azerbaijan. This is how Baku explains it: should they decide to
strike at Iran, the Americans can hardly expect any information from
the Russian radar in the Gabala district of Azerbaijan.
The rumors on the forthcoming are only intensified when the
Azerbaijan media reported with references to the Canadian Cmag that
the United States is preparing to attack Iran and that Washington
already began consultations with its allies, Azerbaijan included. The
United States is compelled to make Azerbaijan one of the key
countries in the war on Iran. It understands that in the war on Iran
the United States cannot count on as many allies as it had in the war
on Iraq. The European Union categorically objects to the military
operation. Its countries have too many interests in Iran,
particularly in the energy sphere.
Turkey, Washington’s ally in the region, is against the hostilities
too. Ankara depends on fuel from Iran as much as Europe does. Along
with everything else, it does not want another source of armed
Kurdish separatism near its borders.
In theory, Washington may use the territories of Armenia, Syria,
Iraq, Afghanistan, and Azerbaijan for the invasion. Armenia and Syria
are automatically out, as former Russia’s ally, the latter as
Washington’s enemy. Iraq and Afghanistan, where guerrilla fighters
are active, are not exactly safe and reliable. Besides, pro-Iranian
Shiah parties led by as-Sistani may win the forthcoming parliamentary
election in Iraq. All these considerations make the territory of
Azerbaijan the only reliable bridgehead for America.
It goes without saying that Iran is doing what it can to safeguard
itself from an attack from the Azerbaijani territory. In the hope to
improve its relations with Baku, official Tehran even permitted it to
open a consulate general in Tebriz (denied Azerbaijan for a decade).
When President of Azerbaijan visits Iran soon, he will be permitted
to visit Tebriz, mostly populated by ethnic Azerbaijanis. The series
of visits to Baku is quite revealing too. In the last few months, the
capital of Azerbaijan received special envoy of the president of Iran
for the Caspian region, minister of health care, security minister,
and defense minister. The latter, Ali Shamkhani, was particularly
eloquent. “Security of Azerbaijan is our security,” he said. “Our
defense capacity is your defense capacity.”
Iran is trying to tackle all moot points in the relations with
Azerbaijan as soon as possible. Baku still remembers how Iranian
ships and aircraft crossed the Azerbaijani borders in August 2001.
These days, Tehran is prepared to offer guarantees to Azerbaijan that
Iran will never resort to sheer strength in addressing moot points.
Iran is even prepared to sign the Caspian agreement on the terms
suggested by Ilham Aliyev (divide the sea into national sectors and
work the deposits whose ownership is disputed together). In return,
Tehran wants guarantees that the Americans for the attack on Iran
will not use the territory of Azerbaijan. That is why representatives
of Tehran already hinted that should the Americans attack their
country from the territory of Azerbaijan; a retaliation strike at the
Azerbaijani territory would be inevitable.
Translated by A. Ignatkin

Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
January 26, 2005, Wednesday
LOOKING FOR A SECURITY MODEL
SOURCE: Voyenno-Promyshlenny Kuryer, No. 2, January 19-25, 2005, pp.
1, 10
by Alexander Orlov
(…) The former Soviet republics have been trying to create their
armies for over 14 years.
(…)
The shield of the states, which was created on the fragments of the
former Soviet Army, bears the mark of the Soviet system. The military
infrastructure of the former USSR and material resources stored in
ammunition depots let the post-Soviet states ensure their fragile
military security. However, the armies of the post-Soviet republics
have not been rearmed, they continue using Soviet weapons. At the
same time, the post-Soviet republics receive weapons from NATO and
China, which testifies to the importance of competing for this market
and influence in this region. Military analysts state that the CIS
market of weapons amounts to around $30 billion. The airspace council
of the Duma committee for industry, construction and science
intensive technologies reports that this includes the market of
warplanes and combat helicopters, it amounts to $5-$7 billion or 70%
of the Russian military budget.
What are the peculiarities of military construction in the
post-Soviet armies in 2004? What are the differences between the
reforms carried out in the CIS armies? What is the possibility of
interior and exterior conflicts in the former USSR?
Let’s try to answer these and some other questions linked with the
military factor in the post-Soviet republics.
(…)
Military construction in the CIS
Despite military-economic differences, the armies of the CIS nations
have a range of similar traits. For instance, several trends are
common for practically all armies of the CIS.
Military spending increased along with optimization of the armies.
(…) It would not be a mistake to state that practically all CIS
nations reorganized their control structures in 2004. This
reorganization will continue in 2005. The main changes took place in
the Russian Army within the framework of the administrative reform in
2004. At present Russia has the Defense Ministry, the General Staff,
three new federal services (for military-technical co-operation, the
state defense order and the technological and export control) and one
federal agency (the Special construction department). Russia
established a three-branch structure of military control: ground –
air – sea.
Similar reforms began in Ukraine. For instance, military-technical
co-operation bodies work independently in Ukraine. Ukraine does not
have building units. At the same time, the Russian and Ukrainian
armies have much in common. For instance, Russia created a
three-branch structure of its army in 1998, Ukraine initiated such
changes not long ago. At present it merges anti-aircraft and air
units.
Practically all CIS nations, except for Russia and Kazakhstan, use
the territorial principle of recruitment. However, draftees must
serve at least 50 kilometers from their native towns in Armenia. The
republics, which have superfluous call-up resources (Uzbekistan,
Belarus) established military service in reserve. Uzbekistan and
Turkmenistan call-up young people to an alternative civilian service
(so-called labor armies). These people work in cotton fields and at
plants. Uzbekistan was the first country in the CIS to legalize
evasion of military service. Draftees pay $150 for the right to avoid
military service.
In the meantime, people who have not served in the Army cannot work
in public structures in Uzbekistan, which is why military service is
popular in the republic.
Practically all countries have professional units. Armenia and
Karabakh have the most skilled units. The share of such units is 18%,
and it is intended to use them during first minutes of armed
conflicts in order to be able to deploy territorial defense units in
Armenia and Nagorny Karabakh. The share of professional servicemen in
Kazakhstan is 65%. It should be noted that Russia plans to increase
the share of contract service to 50% by 2008.
Practically all CIS nations plan to cut the strength of their armies.
Ukraine plans to dismiss 50,000 servicemen in 2005, Uzbekistan will
dismiss 15,000 people, Tajikistan will dismiss 3,000 servicemen.
(…)
The legislative foundation of the military construction process
improved too. Practically all countries have passed military
doctrines and national security conceptions. In addition, all
republics have laws, which regulate military service.
(…)
The place of armies in the political system
One of the peculiarities of the development of the Armed Forces of
the post-Soviet republics is linked with the fact that the military
does influence the interior and foreign policy. The armies have not
managed to restore territorial integrity to the countries where the
separatist feelings are strong (the Trans-Dniester territory in
Moldavia, Abkhazia and Southern Ossetia in Georgia, Nagorny Karabakh
in Azerbaijan). At the same time, the armies have not managed to
become an independent political force, and the threat of coups
organized by the military is insubstantial in the CIS.
Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma replaced pro-Western Defense
Minister Yevgeny Marchuk with neutral and tolerant General Alexander
Kuzmuk on the eve of the first round of the presidential election in
September 2004. Kuzmuk ensured the Army’s neutrality during the
election. Military experts did not hide the fact that the majority of
officers and ensigns voted for Yanukovich because they remembered
that Yushchenko had cancelled all benefits when he was prime
minister. Yanukovich increased servicemen’s money allowances
substantially.
Staff reshuffles of the security ministers in Georgia in December
2004, and the appointment of the new defense minister in Moldavia had
political reasons. As is known, Tbilisi and Kishinev established the
GUAM bloc (it also included Azerbaijan and Ukraine), which was an
alternative to the pro-Russian Organization of the collective
security treaty. Uzbekistan joined GUAM in 1999. To all appearances,
Georgia and Moldavia decided to ensure NATO’s and the OSCE’s support
in order to reform their security ministries because they are tired
of the separatism.
(…)
“Muslim” armies of the Central Asian republic and Azerbaijan deserve
special attention. The military help the authoritarian regimes of
Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan retain power. The attempted assault on
President Saparmurat Niyazov of Turkmenistan in 2002, and permanent
terrorist acts in Tashkent, Bukhara and other Uzbek towns testify to
the presence of terrorist organizations and irreconcilable opposition
in these republics.
It is hard to say who supports this opposition. It is not Russia
because the replacement of the leaders of these countries would mean
economic and political disadvantages. It should be noted that Niyazov
and Karimov banned Western remedial organizations, including the
Soros foundation, after “the revolution of roses” in Georgia. In
addition, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan increased servicemen’s money
allowances in 2004, despite serious economic problems. (…)
The armies play a stabilizing role in so-called “semi-democratic”
countries: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Azerbaijan.
Nazarbayev’s clan is creating elite units in Kazakhstan, fearing
coups in the republic. The leadership of the Kazakh Army and the
Interior Ministry consists of people originally from Kazakhstan. As
is known, almost 50% of the population of this republic are
representatives of Slavonic nations, Tatars, Uzbeks and more. In the
meantime, Kazakhstan’s economic successes minimize the possibility of
political activity of this group of the population.
The situation in Tajikistan is somewhat different. Fearing mutinies,
President Imomali Rakhmonov abolished elite units of the National
Guard and dismissed former field commanders, who helped him come to
power, in early 2004. A bit earlier, he dismissed representatives of
the Uzbek lobby from the security ministries. Tajikistan has managed
to stabilize the situation in the republic thanks to Russia’s
support. The presence of Russian military advisors, Russian-Tajik
border guards and representatives of the religious opposition in the
Army increased servicemen’s indifference towards politics. Meanwhile,
economic problems and weakening of Russia’s control over the
Tajik-Afghan border may encourage some military units to
unconstitutional activities. However, such revolts would have social
reasons, not political. At the same time, it is very likely that the
Tajik Army (the republic spends around 3% of GDP on its maintenance)
and the 201st motorized infantry division will be able to support
Rakhmonov’s course aimed at the revival of the economy for a long
time.
(…)
In other words, the armies of the post-Soviet republics present an
important tool of their interior and foreign policy. At the same
time, it is an alarming fact that the Trans-Caucasian nations, which
have uncontrolled territories, have increased their military budgets.
(…)