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Peacekeepers For Airports?: Armenia May Be Looking To Russia For Sec

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  • Peacekeepers For Airports?: Armenia May Be Looking To Russia For Sec

    PEACEKEEPERS FOR AIRPORTS?: ARMENIA MAY BE LOOKING TO RUSSIA FOR SECURITY OF KARABAKH FLIGHTS - BSR RUSSIA

    http://www.tert.am/en/news/2013/01/23/nk-airport/
    23.01.13

    Late last week the subject of the Stepanakert airport unexpectedly
    again appeared in the news as information came from Karabakh that the
    first Yerevan-Stepanakert commercial flight could be operated within
    days (the fourth time such a prediction has surfaced).

    In response, the Azerbaijani government ordered the country's air
    defense forces to shoot down civilian aircraft "illegally entering
    its airspace".

    Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan, in turn, said that Armenia's
    anti-aircraft defense will ensure the safety of civilian aircraft
    flying from Yerevan to Stepanakert.

    Only a very good reason and a significant change in the current
    balance of forces could make it possible to launch the flights of
    civilian or military aircraft to and from the recently renovated
    airport near Stepanakert. Azerbaijan does not change its policy of
    isolating Karabakh, and it is military rather than political guarantees
    that are needed for such flights.

    Experts say such guarantee could be military presence in Karabakh of
    one or more states. Some do not exclude that the new military-technical
    agreement between Armenia and Russia involves the deployment in
    Karabakh of new powerful missile systems and certain security
    guarantees from Russia.

    Speaking at a meeting with the heads of all branches of government
    on January 15, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan described the
    Armenian-Russian cooperation as the core of Armenia's security. But
    this cooperation does not apply to Karabakh yet, and the Russian
    authorities have never hidden their desire to send peacekeepers
    to Karabakh.

    Moreover, last year the Collective Security Treaty Organization
    (CSTO), a Russia-led defense pact of six former Soviet countries,
    including Armenia, got permission from the United Nations for carrying
    out peacekeeping missions. It is not excluded that the first mission
    of the CSTO will be the operation of the Stepanakert airport and,
    under this pretext, the introduction of Russian troops into Karabakh.

    During a meeting with journalists on January 18 Ohanyan said that
    "the Armenian-Russian military-technical cooperation will enter a new
    stage." "There is an issue as to distributing the supplies of weapons
    (of the Russian military base) throughout the territory of Armenia
    and not only in Gyumri," said the minister.

    It is no coincidence that Nezavisimaya Gazeta, an influential
    newspaper in Russia, has published an article that says that "a
    possible aggravation of the Karabakh conflict forces Moscow to shift
    contract-based servicemen to the region, Russia is enhancing the
    military preparedness of its troops and armed allied forces in the
    South Caucasus."

    The plan of manning Russian military base N102 in Gyumri with
    contract-based servicemen had been fulfilled by January 15. During
    half a year their number has been doubled. At the same time, the number
    of staff personnel of the base remains the same and is about 5,000 men.

    "Military experts explain that the accelerated rate of putting the
    102nd base on a professional basis is connected with a possible abrupt
    change in the geopolitical situation there, which is a threat to Russia
    and its allies. These scenarios are connected with the possible start
    by Azerbaijan of hostilities against Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh
    conflict, as well as the possible military action by Israel against
    Iran," writes the newspaper.

    In fact, Russia, introducing forces into Karabakh under the pretext
    of the Stepanakert airport will also gain access to the Iranian border.

    Other states have not yet reacted to such a possible scenario. The
    mediators only advise that Armenia should not provoke the escalation
    of the situation by opening the airport. But it is possible that the
    Western countries and Russia already have an agreement on the joint
    use of the airport in the Karabakh capital. They already jointly use
    the Russian airport of Ulyanovsk (for Afghan operations).



    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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