ARMENIAN DM: EFFICIENT ARMY IS NOT ONLY BIG FINANCING

ARMINFO News Agency
October 10, 2006 Tuesday

Efficient army is not only big financing, Armenian Defense Minister
Serzh Sargsyan says in an interview to REGNUM (Russia) and El Pais
(Spain).

Asked for how long the "neither peace nor war" situation may go on in
Nagorno-Karabakh now that Azerbaijan is quite actively strengthening
its economy, Sargsyan says that the Azeri economy is really developing,
but in 2005 Armenia had bigger economic growth.

This year, due to growing oil revenues, Azerbaijan is developing a
bit more actively, but it would be wrong to say that the economic
growth in Azerbaijan may force the Armenian side to capitulate. On
the contrary, it may urge it to work better and to seek improvement
not only in the economy but in other sectors – to become a developed
state with a modern highly efficient army. "Only this will allow us
to effectively oppose Azerbaijan in case of new war," says Sargsyan.

He notes that Azerbaijan does not have an overwhelming economic
advantage over Armenia. It will take Azerbaijan several decades
to attain the advantages it had in the early 1990s. And even then,
despite its big advantages, the Azeri side lost the war. "So, I would
like to advise all those relying on money to come to their senses and
to consider the lessons of the war Azerbaijan has once unleashed and
lost," says Sargsyan."

He says that in 2007 Armenia plans to spend 3.5% of its GDP on defense
– some $270-280 mln. This may be much for Armenia but compared with
some other countries this is not enough for building a modern efficient
army. Everything is relative, says Sargsyan.

Asked if the Nagorno-Karabakh problem can be solved by peace, Sargsyan
says: "Of course, it can. Any peace agreement implies agreement of
the sides. This is like marriage. There is no marriage without mutual
agreement. So, if we seek to solve the problem and Azerbaijan not, we
can’t help it. We believe that this problem must be solved peacefully
on the basis of mutual compromise," says Sargsyan.

Asked about the possibility of return of refugees, Sargsyan says
that now that the problem is yet unresolved, that people have not
yet healed the wounds they got during the war, the return of refugees
is impossible.

The compromise is not about this. The people who left Nagorno-Karabakh
14-15 years ago have long settled down in new environments and are
hardly prepared to leave everything they have there and to come back
to Nagorno-Karabakh. The compromise is about Azerbaijan’s recognizing
the right of the Karabakh people to live independently, so they can
feel themselves secure and no longer rely on the security zone. There
are other important components. The compromise must concern security –
only then it will lead to stable peace, says Sargsyan.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress