45,000 in Armenian army

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
April 20 2006

Baku, April 19, AssA-Irada — Armenian Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisian
has said his country’s troops are 45,000 people strong, explaining
this by the current situation in the South Caucasus region.

Touching upon the plight and structure of the three-million nation’s
military, Sarkisian said it is common knowledge that the Armenian
military consists of infantry regiment units and the air force. The
troops are not centralized in any way and have no local headquarters.

“There is only one chief HQ overseeing all of the armed forces. This
entails commanding separate corps, artillery units and air defense
forces,” said the minister, who also serves as secretary of the
Armenian National Security Council.

With regard to further impact of the rising tension in Georgia’s
breakaway republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia on regional states,
Sarkisian said any given conflict flaring in the South Caucasus region
could play a role of a “detonator”.

He said the Caucasus is a very small area, which makes regional
countries dependent on each other. “For this reason, a resumption of
military action [in the region] could bring about negative consequences
for us,” the Armenian defense chief said.

As for the current situation in Georgia, the minister said a possible
disruption of stability there would not benefit his country. His
concern could be explained by the fact Georgia is the only country
facilitating Armenia’s access to the rest of the world.*

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress