Azeris unhappy with possible Russian pullout from Georgia to Armenia – daily
Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Moscow
25 May 05
Text of report by Vladimir Bogdanov in Russian newspaper Rossiyskaya
Gazeta on 25 May headlined “Baku says no to Russia. But yes to
America?”
Petr Burdykin, Russian charge d’affaires in Azerbaijan, has been
summoned to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry to be handed a diplomatic
note in connection with reports of a possible transfer of Russian
military bases from Georgia to Armenia.
Remember a recent statement by Gen Yuriy Baluyevskiy, chief of
Russia’s General Staff: “The military bases will definitely be
withdrawn from Georgia to Russian territory. It is quite possible that
some of the inventory and military equipment will be withdrawn to
Armenia.” The general said that this would enable the timetable for
the withdrawal of the bases to be reduced from 10-11 years to four.
Right now there are up to 5,000 Russian servicemen together with 115
tanks, 220 infantry fighting vehicles and armoured personnel carriers,
and 170 artillery systems [in Georgia]. It is that part of the
armament that could be temporarily deployed at the base in Gyumri
[Armenia]. And this is what caused the negative reaction from Baku,
which is still in a state of undeclared war with Yerevan over Nagornyy
Karabakh. The belief in the Azerbaijani capital is that, in reaching
agreement with Armenian President Robert Kocharyan on redeploying
military equipment, Moscow has ignored Azerbaijani President Ilham
Aliyev’s view on the issue.
It looks as though any reinforcement of Russia’s military grouping in
Armenia is unacceptable to Azerbaijan. In fact, Baku plans to be
quartering US servicemen by the end of this year.
According to experts from the American-Israeli Stratfor strategic
forecasting centre, the US forces in Azerbaijan will be called
“temporarily deployed mobile forces.” Stratfor’s information is that
the first American units will arrive here in the next few weeks. “If
this information accords with reality, this will constitute a major
strengthening of American military control over the energy resources
and the priorities of the Caspian region,” the centre experts believe.
Under the agreement, American forces will be deployed at three former
Soviet bases in central districts of Azerbaijan: Kurdamir (the main
base), Nasosnaya [Tagiyev village] and Yevlax. The landing strips have
already been upgraded to meet American military requirements. Hangars
for the US air force and barracks for the special forces have also
been erected there.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress