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REPORT: ISRAEL SELLS DRONES TO AZERBAIJAN
YNet
Oct 25 2012
Israel
Global Post reports Israel, Russia and Iran violating UN-imposed
embargo by selling arms to Armenia, Azerbaijan. Observers: Border
skirmishes may escalate to wider regional conflict
Ynet Published: 10.25.12, 08:27 / Israel News
Israel, Russia and Iran are violating an international embargo by
supplying weapons to Azerbaijan and Armenia in the framework of their
dispute over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, a number of media outlets
reported Wednesday night.
An article published by the American Global Post news magazine quoted
international observers as saying that the region's strategic oil and
gas pipelines and a tangled web of alliances and precious resources
threaten to quickly escalate the border skirmishes and airspace
violations to a wider regional conflict triggered by Armenia and
Azerbaijan that could potentially pull in Israel, Russia and Iran.
In March, the American magazine reported, Azerbaijan signed a $1.6
billion arms deal with Israel, which consisted largely of advanced
drones and an air defense system. Through this and other deals,
Azerbaijan is currently amassing a squadron of over 100 drones from
all three of Israel's top defense manufacturers.
Armenia, the report said, employs only a small number of domestically
produced models.
According to the report, the nations of the South Caucasus, where
a fragile peace holds over three frozen conflicts, are buzzing with
drones they use to probe one another's defenses and spy on disputed
territories.
The Global Post said that to some extent, Israel, Russia and Iran
are already being pulled towards conflict. Last September, according
to the report, Armenia shot down an Israeli-made Azerbaijani drone
over Nagorno-Karabakh and the government claims that drones have
been spotted ahead of recent incursions by Azerbaijani troops into
Armenian-held territory.
Richard Giragosian, director of the Regional Studies Center in Yerevan,
said in a briefing that attacks this summer showed that Azerbaijan is
eager to "play with its new toys" and its forces displayed "impressive
tactical and operational improvement."
The International Crisis Group warned that as the tit-for-tat incidents
become more deadly, "there is a growing risk that the increasing
frontline tensions could lead to an accidental war."
The UN and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
(OSCE) have long imposed a non-binding arms embargo on Azerbaijan
and Armenia, and both are under a de facto arms ban from the United
States. But the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
(SIPRI) said this has not stopped Israel and Russia from selling
to them.
The two former Soviet republics fought a bloody war over the disputed
Nagorno-Karabakh territory between 1988 and 1994. The dispute
has claimed the lives of some 30,000 people and left hundreds of
thousands homeless. They have since been locked in a stalemate with
an oft-violated ceasefire holding a tenuous peace between them. The
drones are the latest addition to the battlefield.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4296758,00.html
YNet
Oct 25 2012
Israel
Global Post reports Israel, Russia and Iran violating UN-imposed
embargo by selling arms to Armenia, Azerbaijan. Observers: Border
skirmishes may escalate to wider regional conflict
Ynet Published: 10.25.12, 08:27 / Israel News
Israel, Russia and Iran are violating an international embargo by
supplying weapons to Azerbaijan and Armenia in the framework of their
dispute over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, a number of media outlets
reported Wednesday night.
An article published by the American Global Post news magazine quoted
international observers as saying that the region's strategic oil and
gas pipelines and a tangled web of alliances and precious resources
threaten to quickly escalate the border skirmishes and airspace
violations to a wider regional conflict triggered by Armenia and
Azerbaijan that could potentially pull in Israel, Russia and Iran.
In March, the American magazine reported, Azerbaijan signed a $1.6
billion arms deal with Israel, which consisted largely of advanced
drones and an air defense system. Through this and other deals,
Azerbaijan is currently amassing a squadron of over 100 drones from
all three of Israel's top defense manufacturers.
Armenia, the report said, employs only a small number of domestically
produced models.
According to the report, the nations of the South Caucasus, where
a fragile peace holds over three frozen conflicts, are buzzing with
drones they use to probe one another's defenses and spy on disputed
territories.
The Global Post said that to some extent, Israel, Russia and Iran
are already being pulled towards conflict. Last September, according
to the report, Armenia shot down an Israeli-made Azerbaijani drone
over Nagorno-Karabakh and the government claims that drones have
been spotted ahead of recent incursions by Azerbaijani troops into
Armenian-held territory.
Richard Giragosian, director of the Regional Studies Center in Yerevan,
said in a briefing that attacks this summer showed that Azerbaijan is
eager to "play with its new toys" and its forces displayed "impressive
tactical and operational improvement."
The International Crisis Group warned that as the tit-for-tat incidents
become more deadly, "there is a growing risk that the increasing
frontline tensions could lead to an accidental war."
The UN and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
(OSCE) have long imposed a non-binding arms embargo on Azerbaijan
and Armenia, and both are under a de facto arms ban from the United
States. But the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
(SIPRI) said this has not stopped Israel and Russia from selling
to them.
The two former Soviet republics fought a bloody war over the disputed
Nagorno-Karabakh territory between 1988 and 1994. The dispute
has claimed the lives of some 30,000 people and left hundreds of
thousands homeless. They have since been locked in a stalemate with
an oft-violated ceasefire holding a tenuous peace between them. The
drones are the latest addition to the battlefield.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4296758,00.html