Armenia unhappy about US plans to deploy military bases in Azerbaijan – paper

Aravot, Yerevan
28 Sep 04

entitled “USA reaches Azerbaijan” and subheaded “Another piece of
bad news for Armenia”

28 September: Azerbaijani sources have confirmed that Azerbaijani
Defence Minister Safar Abiyev and US Deputy Assistant Secretary for
European and Eurasian Affairs Steven Pifer on Tuesday [21 September]
discussed prospects of military cooperation, including the stationing
of US military bases in this country. This report has caused Armenia’s
concern.

The matter is that according to some reports, it is planned to station
US military bases on territories under the control of Armenian forces
in the so-called “occupied” districts of Cabrayil, Fuzuli and Zangilan
[southwest Azerbaijan], which, incidentally, border on Iran.

When reports about the return of “occupied” territories cropped up
again, the talk was precisely about those three districts, which,
undoubtedly, are of strategic importance both for the Nagornyy
Karabakh Republic and Armenia, and also in this case for the USA,
which is about to realize its far-reaching goals.

The secretary of the Justice bloc faction, Viktor Dallakyan, said that
there were two arguments in favour of deploying US military bases
on liberated territories. “First, the USA is interested in putting
into operation roads and the Baku-Ceyhan oil pipeline. Second, the
US presence in these districts is important for the USA to establish
control over Iran and unleash actions at the right moment.”