Armenia ready to counter Azerbaijan if need be

01.10.2004

Yerevan. (Interfax-AVN) – Armenia does not want to resume military
operations against Azerbaijan, Armenian Defense Minister Serzh
Sarkisian has told Armenian Public Television.

“Armenia will declare war only if attacked by Azerbaijan. However, if
it is the case, Azerbaijan will be repulsed so as not to even mention
the war again for years to come,” he emphasized.

Azerbaijani authorities have recently repeatedly stated the
possibility of resuming military operations against Armenia to settle
the Nagorno-Karabakh crisis, if peaceful negotiations do not yield any
results.

“The aftermath of the war will be heavy for both sides,” the Armenian
defense minister said.

“Given the most favorable outcome of the war for Armenia, we do not
wish to resume military operations, since a war always results in
human casualties. Even if the losses ratio equaled 1:7, as was the
case in 1993-1994, we would not be willing to start a war,” Sarkisian
pointed out.

In addition to that, in wartime the sides will have to spend their
limited resources on solving military problems, he noted.

At the same time he emphasized that the Armenian Armed Forces were the
most combat ready force in Transcaucasia.

Sarkisian also said that NATO’s decision to cancel the military
exercise in Azerbaijan, slated for mid-September, due to the fact that
Armenian officers were not allowed to participate in it, had not been
a surprise to him.

At the same time he said that Armenia was interested in Azerbaijan’s
participation in the NATO-sponsored Partnership for Peace
program. “Azerbaijan’s participation in this program imposes certain
commitments on Baku, and we will be better off dealing with
Azerbaijan, committed to its promises,” he pointed out.