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AZERBAIJAN ANNOUNCES ANOTHER SURGE IN MILITARY SPENDING
Asbarez
Wednesday, October 13th, 2010
BAKU
In a move that threatens to ignite a new war in the volatile South
Caucasus, Azerbaijan has announced plans for another drastic increase
in defense spending, which has already skyrocketed over the past
decade.
The Azerbaijani government's defense budget for next year, submitted
to parliament on Tuesday, calls for $3.1 billion in expenditures. News
reports from Baku quoted Azerbaijani Finance Minister Samir Sharifov
as saying that this represents an almost 90 percent rise from this
year's spending level.
"Defense spending in 2011 will account for 19.7 percent compared with
10.7 percent in 2010, so the share of defense spending in the budget
will almost double," Sharifov said, according to AFP news agency.
This contradicted Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's statements
on the subject made earlier this year. Addressing Azerbaijani troops
in June, Aliyev said that Baku's military spending will total $2.15
billion this year.
"A goal was set forth several years ago for Azerbaijan's military
expenses to be above all of Armenia's spending," he said. "This goal
has already been fulfilled."
Armenia's state budget for 2010 is projected at $2.6 billion. The
Armenian government plans to spend a total of $2.8 billion next year.
About $400 million of the sum is to be allocated to the Armenian
military.
The Azerbaijani defense budget was supposed to have passed the $2
billion mark in 2008. Aliyev publicly ordered his government to ensure
that in April 2008.
Over the past decade, Azerbaijan has boosted defense spending at least
tenfold as part of a military build-up financed from the country's
soaring oil and gas revenues. Baku hopes that it will eventually force
the Armenians to make serious concessions in the unresolved conflict
over Nagorno-Karabakh.
Aliyev regularly threatens to win back Karabakh and the liberated
districts surrounding it by force. According to his finance minister,
about $1.4 billion of the planned 2011 spending will be used to
modernize the Azerbaijani military through the purchase of up-to-date
equipment and weaponry.
Armenian leaders have downplayed the widening gap between the defense
budgets of the two South Caucasus arch-foes. "We counter this with the
quality and combat-readiness of our armed forces," Defense Minister
Seyran Ohanian told journalists last week.
Armenia is also capitalizing on its 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."
From: A. Papazian
Asbarez
Wednesday, October 13th, 2010
BAKU
In a move that threatens to ignite a new war in the volatile South
Caucasus, Azerbaijan has announced plans for another drastic increase
in defense spending, which has already skyrocketed over the past
decade.
The Azerbaijani government's defense budget for next year, submitted
to parliament on Tuesday, calls for $3.1 billion in expenditures. News
reports from Baku quoted Azerbaijani Finance Minister Samir Sharifov
as saying that this represents an almost 90 percent rise from this
year's spending level.
"Defense spending in 2011 will account for 19.7 percent compared with
10.7 percent in 2010, so the share of defense spending in the budget
will almost double," Sharifov said, according to AFP news agency.
This contradicted Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's statements
on the subject made earlier this year. Addressing Azerbaijani troops
in June, Aliyev said that Baku's military spending will total $2.15
billion this year.
"A goal was set forth several years ago for Azerbaijan's military
expenses to be above all of Armenia's spending," he said. "This goal
has already been fulfilled."
Armenia's state budget for 2010 is projected at $2.6 billion. The
Armenian government plans to spend a total of $2.8 billion next year.
About $400 million of the sum is to be allocated to the Armenian
military.
The Azerbaijani defense budget was supposed to have passed the $2
billion mark in 2008. Aliyev publicly ordered his government to ensure
that in April 2008.
Over the past decade, Azerbaijan has boosted defense spending at least
tenfold as part of a military build-up financed from the country's
soaring oil and gas revenues. Baku hopes that it will eventually force
the Armenians to make serious concessions in the unresolved conflict
over Nagorno-Karabakh.
Aliyev regularly threatens to win back Karabakh and the liberated
districts surrounding it by force. According to his finance minister,
about $1.4 billion of the planned 2011 spending will be used to
modernize the Azerbaijani military through the purchase of up-to-date
equipment and weaponry.
Armenian leaders have downplayed the widening gap between the defense
budgets of the two South Caucasus arch-foes. "We counter this with the
quality and combat-readiness of our armed forces," Defense Minister
Seyran Ohanian told journalists last week.
Armenia is also capitalizing on its 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."
From: A. Papazian