Armenian general advises Azerbaijan to spend more on people

Arminfo
22 Aug 05

YEREVAN

Instead of increasing its military budget, Azerbaijan had better spend
that money on resolving much more important issues, the chief of the
General Staff and first deputy defence minister of Armenia, Col-Gen
Mikael Arutyunyan, has told our Arminfo correspondent.

“I think they ought to invest that money in the socio-economic
development of their country and people who are poor and
starving. There are very many problems. They could resolve the problem
of refugees, build houses and raise the pensions. But they are saying
that all the money will be spent on the army, which I believe is an
approach lacking seriousness. And what will they do afterwards? They
will destroy the armada created, again rather than spending the money
on the people? I think they had better think about their people,”
Arutyunyan noted.

At the same time, he stressed that the Armenian side “will not stay
idle” either. “We are also preparing and although we are not going to
invest big money, we will invest enough,” he said.

[Passage omitted: background note on Azerbaijan president’s statement
on increasing military budget]