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AZERBAIJAN'S MILITARY BUDGET TO DOUBLE IN 2006: ALIYEV
Agence France Presse -- English
September 8, 2005 Thursday
Azerbaijan will double military spending in 2006 to 600 million dollars
(480 million euros), President Ilham Aliyev said Thursday.
He also warned Armenia that Azerbaijan's armed forces were capable
of re-taking by force Nagorny Karabakh, a territory inside Azerbaijan
but currently controlled by Armenia.
"The unconstructive position of Armenia makes it impossible to make
progress with the talks. But, for the moment, we hope that a peaceful
solution is possible", Aliyev said during a regional visit to Lenkaran,
near the Iranian border.
"At the same time, we are reinforcing our military potential. And if
defense spending in 2004 was 270 million dollars; in 2005, 300 million;
in 2006 it will equal 600 million dollars," he said.
"The enemy must know that our army is always able to regain the
territory by military force," Aliyev said.
The enclave of Nagorny Karabakh, inhabited today by some 145,000
Armenians and supported by Yerevan, won its de facto independence
from Azerbaijan through a 1988-1994 war that killed 25,000 people
and displaced one million.
Unrecognized by Azerbaijan, which considered the region to be under
Armenian occupation since the 1994 ceasefire, Karabakh's status has
yet to be settled.
Agence France Presse -- English
September 8, 2005 Thursday
Azerbaijan will double military spending in 2006 to 600 million dollars
(480 million euros), President Ilham Aliyev said Thursday.
He also warned Armenia that Azerbaijan's armed forces were capable
of re-taking by force Nagorny Karabakh, a territory inside Azerbaijan
but currently controlled by Armenia.
"The unconstructive position of Armenia makes it impossible to make
progress with the talks. But, for the moment, we hope that a peaceful
solution is possible", Aliyev said during a regional visit to Lenkaran,
near the Iranian border.
"At the same time, we are reinforcing our military potential. And if
defense spending in 2004 was 270 million dollars; in 2005, 300 million;
in 2006 it will equal 600 million dollars," he said.
"The enemy must know that our army is always able to regain the
territory by military force," Aliyev said.
The enclave of Nagorny Karabakh, inhabited today by some 145,000
Armenians and supported by Yerevan, won its de facto independence
from Azerbaijan through a 1988-1994 war that killed 25,000 people
and displaced one million.
Unrecognized by Azerbaijan, which considered the region to be under
Armenian occupation since the 1994 ceasefire, Karabakh's status has
yet to be settled.