Armenia Becomes the Only ‘Russian Base’ in the Caucasus

Journal of Turkish Weekly
May 21 2005

A proposal announced by Russia’s top brass to move arms from
controversial military bases in the former Soviet republic of Georgia
to Moscow’s regional ally Armenia angered officials in neighboring
Azerbaijan on Friday, ArmeniaLiberty reports.

Russia has thorny relations with pro-Western Georgia and Azerbaijan,
while Armenia has remained the only regional ally for Russia.

Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov said Russia had previously moved
weaponry from Georgia to Armenia, which was involved in a bitter war
with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh territory in the early 1990s.
“We are seriously concerned and we would not want Russia to take such
a step now,” he told journalists.

Russian military base in Armenia had assisted the Armenian forces to
occupy 20 percent Azerbaijan territories. The Russian troops further
made assistance to the separatist movements in Georgia.

Russia’s military chief of staff, General Yury Baluyevsky, said
Thursday that moving armaments from Georgia to Armenia could help
speed Russia’s withdrawal from a republic that has become increasingly
hostile to its presence. However, Azerbaijan is technically still
at war with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh, which forces loyal to
Yerevan have occupied since 1994. 20 percent of Azerbaijan has been
under Armenian occupation. Armenian occupation has left 1 million
Azerbaijanis refugees.

Russia has military bases in both Georgia and Armenia but Georgia
has demanded the immediate withdrawal of Russian forces from its
territory, as Western influence there and in Azerbaijan increases
at Moscow’s expense. Azerbaijan and especially Georgia have received
considerable military aid from the United States and NATO in the past
few years and both countries form a key link in a US-backed energy
corridor spanning Turkey and Central Asia. Georgia and Azerbaijan
have special relationship with Turkey and both seek to be NATO members.

Armenia does not recognize Turkey’s and Azerbaijan’s national
borders. Ultra-Armenian nationalists argue that some parts of Georgia
should also be annexed to Armenia.