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REPORT: AZERBAIJAN GETS 85 PERCENT OF ITS WEAPONS FROM RUSSIA
EurasiaNet.org
March 18 2015
March 17, 2015 - 10:27pm,
by Joshua Kucera
Azerbaijan was the second-largest arms importer in Europe over the past
five years, according to a new report from the Stockholm International
Peace Research Institute, an arms trade research group.
Azerbaijan accounted for fully 13 percent of all of Europe's arms
imports over the last five years, SIPRI reported, behind only the U.K.
(The report doesn't list dollar values for the imports.)
While overall arms imports have been decreasing across Europe,
Azerbaijan is bucking the trend: its imports of weaponry increased
249 percent in the period 2010-2014 when compared to the previous
five-year period, 2005-2009.
SIPRI also tabulated the world trade in drones ("unmanned aerial
vehicles" in military-speak) and Azerbaijan also ended up near the
top of that list, as the fourth-largest importer of drones in the
world since 1985, trailing only the U.K., India, and Italy. It also
scored impressively in another SIPRI survey from last year, tallying
the second-largest increase in defense budgets in the world over the
past ten years.
Among the most eye-popping numbers from the newest report: 85 percent
of Azerbaijan's arms imports came from Russia. Russian sales of arms
to Azerbaijan has been a sore subject in Armenia, which is bracing
for renewed conflict with Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of
Nagorno Karabakh and which is supposed to be Russia's closest ally
in the region. Recently even Armenia's pro-Russian Foreign Minister
Edward Nalbandian complained about Russian arms sales to Baku.
But Azerbaijan also imports weapons from other countries like Israel,
Turkey, and Ukraine. That Russia dwarfs all of these is somewhat
surprising, and illustrates just how strong Russia's ties to the
militaries of the post-Soviet states are, even in a country like
Azerbaijan that's not particularly closely allied to Moscow.
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/72581
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
EurasiaNet.org
March 18 2015
March 17, 2015 - 10:27pm,
by Joshua Kucera
Azerbaijan was the second-largest arms importer in Europe over the past
five years, according to a new report from the Stockholm International
Peace Research Institute, an arms trade research group.
Azerbaijan accounted for fully 13 percent of all of Europe's arms
imports over the last five years, SIPRI reported, behind only the U.K.
(The report doesn't list dollar values for the imports.)
While overall arms imports have been decreasing across Europe,
Azerbaijan is bucking the trend: its imports of weaponry increased
249 percent in the period 2010-2014 when compared to the previous
five-year period, 2005-2009.
SIPRI also tabulated the world trade in drones ("unmanned aerial
vehicles" in military-speak) and Azerbaijan also ended up near the
top of that list, as the fourth-largest importer of drones in the
world since 1985, trailing only the U.K., India, and Italy. It also
scored impressively in another SIPRI survey from last year, tallying
the second-largest increase in defense budgets in the world over the
past ten years.
Among the most eye-popping numbers from the newest report: 85 percent
of Azerbaijan's arms imports came from Russia. Russian sales of arms
to Azerbaijan has been a sore subject in Armenia, which is bracing
for renewed conflict with Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of
Nagorno Karabakh and which is supposed to be Russia's closest ally
in the region. Recently even Armenia's pro-Russian Foreign Minister
Edward Nalbandian complained about Russian arms sales to Baku.
But Azerbaijan also imports weapons from other countries like Israel,
Turkey, and Ukraine. That Russia dwarfs all of these is somewhat
surprising, and illustrates just how strong Russia's ties to the
militaries of the post-Soviet states are, even in a country like
Azerbaijan that's not particularly closely allied to Moscow.
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/72581
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress