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'UNANNOUNCED' WAR GAMES: ARMENIA SAYS AZERBAIJAN'S MILITARY EXERCISES VIOLATE INTERNATIONAL NORMS
Karabakh | 05.02.15 | 10:44
Photo: www.trend.az
GOHAR ABRAHAMYAN
ArmeniaNow reporter
The large-scale military exercises that were recently launched by
Azerbaijan are held with violations of international agreements,
the Armenian Defense Ministry says. In a military expert's opinion,
meanwhile, these drills may be a prelude to "full-scale tensions".
On February 2, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry's press service
said that the country's armed forces launched "operational-tactical
exercises", which involve around 15,000 active servicemen and 5,000
reserve personnel. The attraction of the latter reportedly pursues
the goal of checking the army's mobilization capacity.
It is known that the exercises are being held upon Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev's instruction and are being led by two most
senior officers of the Azerbaijani Army, Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov
and his first deputy, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces
Colonel-General Najmeddin Sadikov.
Reports also say that the exercises involve all types of army forces
- around 300 units of armored vehicles, more than 200 artillery
and anti-aircraft units, about 20 aircraft and air defense units,
including anti-aircraft missile systems.
However, Armenian Defense Ministry spokesman Artsrun Hovhannisyan
on Wednesday told ArmeniaNow that these exercise are contrary to
Azerbaijan's international commitments, in particular, they are being
held with violations of the provisions of an OSCE Vienna document
that deals with prior notification of large military activities. The
document was upgraded in 2011 and came into force on October 17, 2012.
According to Hovhannisyan, the document envisages the order of
providing preliminary information about exercises, according to which
the Azerbaijani Republic should have informed the member states about
its exercise still on November 15, 2014.
"Even if the exercises were scheduled at a later date, in particular,
in January 2015, Azerbaijan was obliged to provide information on that
as soon as possible, the way it was done in 2014 by the Republic of
Armenia," the Defense Ministry spokesman said.
It is remarkable that during the last 10 months the armed forces of
Azerbaijan have conducted at least four major military exercises,
including in the immediate vicinity of the Line of Contact with
Nagorno-Karabakh and at the state border with Armenia.
The latest such exercises were only several months ago, in autumn.
First, Azerbaijan held exercises in September and then in November.
However, the February exercises in Azerbaijan are believed to be the
biggest ones in the last few years.
In November 2014, Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh held joint military
drills entitled "Unity 2014", which involved 47,000 troops, around
900 armored vehicles and 2,000 pieces of artillery.
According to the political analyst, founder and president of the
Institute for International and Security Affairs Stepan Safaryan,
such intensive military exercises in Azerbaijan show that it still has
not given up its intentions to escalate and destabilize the situation
in the conflict zone.
"Last autumn they also had military exercises and this is the
second large-scale military drill after that. Let's not forget that
Azerbaijan's adventurous attacks last summer were also preceded
by exercises. I think that Azerbaijan does understand that it has
neither strength nor permission to wage a war, but it does indulge
in escalating the situation especially when there are Turkey and
Russia, which directly or indirectly contribute to it," the analysts
told ArmeniaNow.
http://armenianow.com/karabakh/60349/armenia_azerbaijan_military_exercises_violation
From: Baghdasarian
Karabakh | 05.02.15 | 10:44
Photo: www.trend.az
GOHAR ABRAHAMYAN
ArmeniaNow reporter
The large-scale military exercises that were recently launched by
Azerbaijan are held with violations of international agreements,
the Armenian Defense Ministry says. In a military expert's opinion,
meanwhile, these drills may be a prelude to "full-scale tensions".
On February 2, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry's press service
said that the country's armed forces launched "operational-tactical
exercises", which involve around 15,000 active servicemen and 5,000
reserve personnel. The attraction of the latter reportedly pursues
the goal of checking the army's mobilization capacity.
It is known that the exercises are being held upon Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev's instruction and are being led by two most
senior officers of the Azerbaijani Army, Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov
and his first deputy, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces
Colonel-General Najmeddin Sadikov.
Reports also say that the exercises involve all types of army forces
- around 300 units of armored vehicles, more than 200 artillery
and anti-aircraft units, about 20 aircraft and air defense units,
including anti-aircraft missile systems.
However, Armenian Defense Ministry spokesman Artsrun Hovhannisyan
on Wednesday told ArmeniaNow that these exercise are contrary to
Azerbaijan's international commitments, in particular, they are being
held with violations of the provisions of an OSCE Vienna document
that deals with prior notification of large military activities. The
document was upgraded in 2011 and came into force on October 17, 2012.
According to Hovhannisyan, the document envisages the order of
providing preliminary information about exercises, according to which
the Azerbaijani Republic should have informed the member states about
its exercise still on November 15, 2014.
"Even if the exercises were scheduled at a later date, in particular,
in January 2015, Azerbaijan was obliged to provide information on that
as soon as possible, the way it was done in 2014 by the Republic of
Armenia," the Defense Ministry spokesman said.
It is remarkable that during the last 10 months the armed forces of
Azerbaijan have conducted at least four major military exercises,
including in the immediate vicinity of the Line of Contact with
Nagorno-Karabakh and at the state border with Armenia.
The latest such exercises were only several months ago, in autumn.
First, Azerbaijan held exercises in September and then in November.
However, the February exercises in Azerbaijan are believed to be the
biggest ones in the last few years.
In November 2014, Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh held joint military
drills entitled "Unity 2014", which involved 47,000 troops, around
900 armored vehicles and 2,000 pieces of artillery.
According to the political analyst, founder and president of the
Institute for International and Security Affairs Stepan Safaryan,
such intensive military exercises in Azerbaijan show that it still has
not given up its intentions to escalate and destabilize the situation
in the conflict zone.
"Last autumn they also had military exercises and this is the
second large-scale military drill after that. Let's not forget that
Azerbaijan's adventurous attacks last summer were also preceded
by exercises. I think that Azerbaijan does understand that it has
neither strength nor permission to wage a war, but it does indulge
in escalating the situation especially when there are Turkey and
Russia, which directly or indirectly contribute to it," the analysts
told ArmeniaNow.
http://armenianow.com/karabakh/60349/armenia_azerbaijan_military_exercises_violation
From: Baghdasarian