NKR FM responds to Azeri statement on Karabakh military exercises

Arminfo, Yerevan
6 Aug 04

STEPANAKERT

The foreign ministry of the Nagornyy Karabakh Republic NKR has issued
a statement in response to the statement of the Azerbaijani Foreign
Ministry on the exercises held by the NKR defence army.

Arminfo has learnt from the NKR Foreign Ministry’s press service that
the statement reads: “On 4 August, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry
issued a statement which strongly condemned the staff exercises of the
NKR defence army in the NKR. The NKR Foreign Ministry’s press service
states that the exercises, which are under way at the moment, were
planned beforehand and that according to the established rules, all
the interested parties were informed about them in advance. One should
note that over many years, the armed forces of Nagornyy Karabakh have
been conducting various military exercises which are one of the very
important means of increasing the combat readiness of the Karabakh
army.

“The NKR authorities think that maintaining the high level of the
combat readiness of the NKR troops is an important condition for
guaranteeing the military security of the NKR and its people,
especially in conditions of uninterrupted bellicose calls in
Azerbaijan for a military settlement to the Karabakh problem. While
Azerbaijan is fuelling tension and the conflict zone has no
international peacekeeping forces, the NKR defence army, which is an
important element of preserving regional stability, is actually
playing the role of a factor of restraint. Anyone who has a sincere
interest in preserving stability established in the last 10 years and
in the joint development of the entire South Caucasus region realizes
this unique function of the NKR armed forces which are in fact an army
of peace.

“The NKR Foreign Ministry press service states that adhering
exclusively to a peaceful settlement to the conflict and in order to
avoid a new armed invasion by Azerbaijan, the Karabakh side will
continue in the future to strengthen the NKR’s statehood and its armed
forces as an important body defending the sovereignty and territorial
integrity of the NKR.”
From: Baghdasarian