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BAKU PROTESTS ARMENIAN 'ARMS ACQUISITION' FROM MOLDOVA
Armenialiberty.org
Oct 14 2011
Russia - A BM-27 Uragan (Hurricane) multiple-launch rocket system at
the St Petersburg Artillery Museum.14.10.2011 Emil Danielyan
Azerbaijan has expressed serious concern over Armenia's reported
purchase from Moldova last month of rockets and other weapons worth
millions of dollars, saying that it will complicate a peaceful
resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Elnur Aslanov, head of an analytical unit at President Ilham Aliyev's
administration, on Friday described this and other arms acquisitions
by Yerevan as a "serious destabilizing factor" in the region.
"The policy on Nagorno-Karabakh pursued by Armenia testifies to
the destructive position of that state in the region," Russian and
Azerbaijani news agencies quoted him as telling journalists in Baku.
"Any arms acquisition, any increase in the number of weapons in the
region certainly does not lay the groundwork for establishing peace
and stability and, on the contrary, impedes that."
Aslanov was commenting on reports that large quantities of weapons and
ammunition that were shipped from Moldova to Armenia by an Armenian
cargo plane on September 13-14.
According to Moldovan media, the secret deal was formalized this summer
through a Latvian intermediary firm, Latspetsexport. The government
of Moldova has essentially confirmed that information after it sparked
a political scandal in the former Soviet republic later in September.
Poland -- Prime Minister of Moldova Vlad Filat at the Eastern
Partnership Summit in Warsaw, 30Sep2011â~@~Kâ~@~KThe Moldovan news
agency Omega last week claimed to have obtained copies of the Chisinau
government's contracts with Latspetsexport worth $3.3 million. It said
they envisage the sale of several types of Soviet-made anti-tank and
other rocket systems along with thousands pieces of ammunition used
by them.
Those allegedly included a dozen BM-27 Uragan (Hurricane)
multiple-launch rocket systems that have a firing range of up to
35 kilometers. "According to authorities in Moldova, some of these
weapons have already been shipped to Armenia," reported Omega.
Official Yerevan has declined to deny or confirm the reports. "In
the interests of national security, details regarding the quantity
and types of weapons and the party selling them are not subject
to publication," Davit Karapetian, the Armenian Defense Ministry
spokesman, said on September 23.
The Azerbaijani government reacted negatively to the reported arms
deliveries. Moldova's ambassador to Azerbaijan, Igor Bodiu, was
summoned to the Foreign Ministry in Baku to provide explanations.
Bodiu afterwards described the deal as an "unfortunate mistake"
that damaged his country's relations with Azerbaijan.
Together with Ukraine and Georgia, Moldova and Azerbaijan are part
of the GUAM grouping of four ex-Soviet states which has acted as a
counterweight to Russia in the larger Commonwealth of Independent
States.
Aliyev was reported to raise the matter with Moldova's Prime
Minister Vladimir Filat when the two met in Warsaw on the sidelines
of a European Union summit on September 30. Omega quoted Filat as
saying that he was invited to visit Baku "in order to continue the
discussion."
Armenia - A military parade in Yerevan, 21Sep2011.â~@~Kâ~@~KArmenia's
Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharian dismissed the Azerbaijani
protests as "aggressive whining" later on Friday. "And this is
natural because Baku has to explain to its own people where the
billions [of dollars,] which are constantly trumpeted about from
various podiums and supposed to be spent on military procurements,
have ended up and why its policy of military blackmail in [peace]
negotiations has failed," Kocharian said in a statement.
Azerbaijan has spent billions of dollars in oil revenues on buying
weapons which it hopes will enable it to eventually win back Karabakh
and other Armenian-controlled territories. It plans to boost military
spending to $3.3 billion this year, up from $2.15 a year ago. By
comparison, Armenia's defense budget for 2011 is projected to reach
only $400 million.
The Armenian side has sought to offset this spending gap mainly
through close military ties with Russia that entitle it to receiving
Russian weapons at discount prices or even free of charge. A new
Russian-Armenian defense agreement signed in August 2010 commits
Moscow to helping Yerevan obtain "modern and compatible weaponry and
(special) military hardware."
The Armenian military demonstrated some of its new weaponry, including
S-300 air-defense systems, during a high-profile parade staged in
Yerevan on September 21. It also for the first time put on display
9K72 surface-to-surface ballistic missiles that are known in the West
as Scud-B.
http://www.azatutyun.am/content/article/24360120.html
From: Baghdasarian
Armenialiberty.org
Oct 14 2011
Russia - A BM-27 Uragan (Hurricane) multiple-launch rocket system at
the St Petersburg Artillery Museum.14.10.2011 Emil Danielyan
Azerbaijan has expressed serious concern over Armenia's reported
purchase from Moldova last month of rockets and other weapons worth
millions of dollars, saying that it will complicate a peaceful
resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Elnur Aslanov, head of an analytical unit at President Ilham Aliyev's
administration, on Friday described this and other arms acquisitions
by Yerevan as a "serious destabilizing factor" in the region.
"The policy on Nagorno-Karabakh pursued by Armenia testifies to
the destructive position of that state in the region," Russian and
Azerbaijani news agencies quoted him as telling journalists in Baku.
"Any arms acquisition, any increase in the number of weapons in the
region certainly does not lay the groundwork for establishing peace
and stability and, on the contrary, impedes that."
Aslanov was commenting on reports that large quantities of weapons and
ammunition that were shipped from Moldova to Armenia by an Armenian
cargo plane on September 13-14.
According to Moldovan media, the secret deal was formalized this summer
through a Latvian intermediary firm, Latspetsexport. The government
of Moldova has essentially confirmed that information after it sparked
a political scandal in the former Soviet republic later in September.
Poland -- Prime Minister of Moldova Vlad Filat at the Eastern
Partnership Summit in Warsaw, 30Sep2011â~@~Kâ~@~KThe Moldovan news
agency Omega last week claimed to have obtained copies of the Chisinau
government's contracts with Latspetsexport worth $3.3 million. It said
they envisage the sale of several types of Soviet-made anti-tank and
other rocket systems along with thousands pieces of ammunition used
by them.
Those allegedly included a dozen BM-27 Uragan (Hurricane)
multiple-launch rocket systems that have a firing range of up to
35 kilometers. "According to authorities in Moldova, some of these
weapons have already been shipped to Armenia," reported Omega.
Official Yerevan has declined to deny or confirm the reports. "In
the interests of national security, details regarding the quantity
and types of weapons and the party selling them are not subject
to publication," Davit Karapetian, the Armenian Defense Ministry
spokesman, said on September 23.
The Azerbaijani government reacted negatively to the reported arms
deliveries. Moldova's ambassador to Azerbaijan, Igor Bodiu, was
summoned to the Foreign Ministry in Baku to provide explanations.
Bodiu afterwards described the deal as an "unfortunate mistake"
that damaged his country's relations with Azerbaijan.
Together with Ukraine and Georgia, Moldova and Azerbaijan are part
of the GUAM grouping of four ex-Soviet states which has acted as a
counterweight to Russia in the larger Commonwealth of Independent
States.
Aliyev was reported to raise the matter with Moldova's Prime
Minister Vladimir Filat when the two met in Warsaw on the sidelines
of a European Union summit on September 30. Omega quoted Filat as
saying that he was invited to visit Baku "in order to continue the
discussion."
Armenia - A military parade in Yerevan, 21Sep2011.â~@~Kâ~@~KArmenia's
Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharian dismissed the Azerbaijani
protests as "aggressive whining" later on Friday. "And this is
natural because Baku has to explain to its own people where the
billions [of dollars,] which are constantly trumpeted about from
various podiums and supposed to be spent on military procurements,
have ended up and why its policy of military blackmail in [peace]
negotiations has failed," Kocharian said in a statement.
Azerbaijan has spent billions of dollars in oil revenues on buying
weapons which it hopes will enable it to eventually win back Karabakh
and other Armenian-controlled territories. It plans to boost military
spending to $3.3 billion this year, up from $2.15 a year ago. By
comparison, Armenia's defense budget for 2011 is projected to reach
only $400 million.
The Armenian side has sought to offset this spending gap mainly
through close military ties with Russia that entitle it to receiving
Russian weapons at discount prices or even free of charge. A new
Russian-Armenian defense agreement signed in August 2010 commits
Moscow to helping Yerevan obtain "modern and compatible weaponry and
(special) military hardware."
The Armenian military demonstrated some of its new weaponry, including
S-300 air-defense systems, during a high-profile parade staged in
Yerevan on September 21. It also for the first time put on display
9K72 surface-to-surface ballistic missiles that are known in the West
as Scud-B.
http://www.azatutyun.am/content/article/24360120.html
From: Baghdasarian