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RUSSIA TO DOUBLE TROOPS IN ARMENIA
EurasiaNet.org
June 20 2012
NY
Following a pick-up in fatal gunfire exchanges along the
Nagorno-Karabakh frontline, Moscow has announced plans to double its
troop strength in ally Armenia by the end of the year. The upshot
of the message was clear: Azerbaijan could face Russian guns if it
attempts to push Armenian forces out of long-occupied Azerbaijani
lands.
The new arrivals will be temporary -- the "permanent" troop presence
at Gyumri, the northern Armenian site of Russia's 102nd Military Base,
will stay at 5,000, according to Colonel Igor Gorbul, a spokesperson
for Russia's Southern Military District, RIA Novosti reported --
and will receive a higher salary and undefined benefits to whet their
interest in sticking around.
They'll arrive at a base that's been a bit on the bustling side of
late. Russian jets have been busy drilling in Armenian airspace, and,
in March, Moscow held war games in Gyumri. Earlier on, the head of
the Collective Security Treaty Organization -- a Russian response to
NATO -- said that the Moscow-led alliance will protect Armenia from
enemy attacks. "If unfriendly actions are taken against Armenia,
all member states will provide relevant assistance to Armenia,"
pledged CSTO Secretary-General Nikolai Bordyuzha.
Officials in Baku countered that not all CSTO members would be willing
to take on Azerbaijan. "The CSTO and Russia, in particular, should
not help the occupant [Armenia], if Azerbaijan decides to free its
lands," said Faraj Guliyev, a member of the Azerbaijani parliament's
Committee for Defense and Security.
But as the 2008 war with Georgia showed, if Russia wants to get
involved, it will -- and the results can be disastrous.
As is its wont in the South Caucasus' separatist struggles, Moscow,
though, wears two hats in the 24-year-long Nagorno-Karabakh conflict --
that of Armenia's longtime military ally and that of mediator (along
with the US and France) between Armenia and Azerbaijan. While, like
its fellow go-betweens, it espouses belief in a peaceful resolution,
its buildup in Armenia suggests another belief as well -- speak softly,
but carry a big stick.
EurasiaNet.org
June 20 2012
NY
Following a pick-up in fatal gunfire exchanges along the
Nagorno-Karabakh frontline, Moscow has announced plans to double its
troop strength in ally Armenia by the end of the year. The upshot
of the message was clear: Azerbaijan could face Russian guns if it
attempts to push Armenian forces out of long-occupied Azerbaijani
lands.
The new arrivals will be temporary -- the "permanent" troop presence
at Gyumri, the northern Armenian site of Russia's 102nd Military Base,
will stay at 5,000, according to Colonel Igor Gorbul, a spokesperson
for Russia's Southern Military District, RIA Novosti reported --
and will receive a higher salary and undefined benefits to whet their
interest in sticking around.
They'll arrive at a base that's been a bit on the bustling side of
late. Russian jets have been busy drilling in Armenian airspace, and,
in March, Moscow held war games in Gyumri. Earlier on, the head of
the Collective Security Treaty Organization -- a Russian response to
NATO -- said that the Moscow-led alliance will protect Armenia from
enemy attacks. "If unfriendly actions are taken against Armenia,
all member states will provide relevant assistance to Armenia,"
pledged CSTO Secretary-General Nikolai Bordyuzha.
Officials in Baku countered that not all CSTO members would be willing
to take on Azerbaijan. "The CSTO and Russia, in particular, should
not help the occupant [Armenia], if Azerbaijan decides to free its
lands," said Faraj Guliyev, a member of the Azerbaijani parliament's
Committee for Defense and Security.
But as the 2008 war with Georgia showed, if Russia wants to get
involved, it will -- and the results can be disastrous.
As is its wont in the South Caucasus' separatist struggles, Moscow,
though, wears two hats in the 24-year-long Nagorno-Karabakh conflict --
that of Armenia's longtime military ally and that of mediator (along
with the US and France) between Armenia and Azerbaijan. While, like
its fellow go-betweens, it espouses belief in a peaceful resolution,
its buildup in Armenia suggests another belief as well -- speak softly,
but carry a big stick.