Armenpress
ARMENIAN DM SAYS RUSSIAN BASE COMPONENT OF NATIONAL SECURITY
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 7, ARMENPRESS: Addressing a NATO-sponsored Rose Roth
conference in Yerevan defense minister Serzh Sarkisian said the presence of
Russian bases in Armenia has no relation to the Karabakh conflict and
Armenian-Azeri relations.
Sarkisian said Russian troops are in Armenia at the request of Armenia
and “are a component of our national security and their presence is
contingent on Armenia’s relations with Turkey which is still hostile to us.”
Sarkisian said Armenia would agree to radically reform its defense system
given the final regulation of the Karabakh conflict and given Azerbaijan’s
accord to carry out similar reforms under the supervision of international
inspectors.
“Armenia’s major priority is to ensure its population’s physical
security, as we are a small country and even a middle-sized army can
encircle our territory,’ the defense minister said. He, however, said it is
a costly price to maintain army but added the country is not going to shift
to professional army in the foreseeable future.
Sarkisian also shrugged off speculations that Armenia’s cooperation with
NATO is detrimental to its participation in the Collective Security Treaty
Organization.