ARMENIAN DEFENSE CHIEF TO VISIT U.S.
By Ruzanna Stepanian
Armenia Liberty
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep
Oct 11 2005
Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisian will leave for the United States
on October 23 on a five-day official visit to which will underline
Armenia’s growing military ties with America.
Sarkisian is scheduled to meet with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld
and visit the U.S. military’s Central Command in Florida. His itinerary
also includes a visit to the U.S. state of Kansas. The Kansas National
Guard has established direct contacts with Armenia’s Armed Forces as
part of U.S.-Armenian military cooperation.
“We will discuss ways of deepening bilateral cooperation,” Sarkisian
said on Tuesday.
Sarkisian told reporters that the political situation in Armenia
will not be on the agenda of his talks in Washington. “I rule out
any discussion of internal political issues there,” he said. “I’m
not used to discussing our domestic political issues in any foreign
country. That would be kind of humiliating.”
The visit will come less than a month after the latest annual “defense
consultations” that were held in Yerevan by senior U.S. and Armenian
military officials. The Pentagon delegation was led by Scott Schless,
the Eurasia director at Rumsfeld’s office. The two sides reportedly
agreed on a plan of joint defense-related activities for next year.
They also discussed continuing U.S. military assistance to Armenia
which has totaled over $20 million since 2002. The assistance is being
mostly used for upgrading communication facilities of the Armenian
armed forces as well as training Armenian military personnel in the
U.S. Washington’s ambassador in Yerevan, John Evans, was reported
after the talks to hail the “broadening and deepening” of the bilateral
defense relationship.
Sarkisian’s trip will highlight Armenia’s efforts to “complement”
its military alliance with Russia with closer defense cooperation
with NATO and the U.S. in particular. In a speech last Friday,
Sarkisian said that cooperation is now among “the guarantees of
ensuring Armenia’s security.”
The Armenian defense chief, widely seen as President Robert Kocharian’s
most likely successor, was interviewed by journalists after decorating
some members of an Armenian army platoon that performed non-combat
tasks in Iraq for six months this year.
Addressing the unit, he thanked the servicemen for “keeping high the
prestige of the Armenian armed forces.” He also defended Armenia’s
continuing participation of the U.S.-led occupation force there.
Armenian-American lobbyists say Yerevan’s highly unpopular decision to
send the small contingent to Iraq last January helped to neutralize
senior Pentagon officials who question the wisdom of helping the
Armenian military. The U.S. military aid is expected to make up at
least $5.75 in the fiscal year 2006.