Armenpress

FIFTH ARMENIAN SHIFT OF PEACEKEEPERS TO LEAVE FOR IRAQ
IN MID-JANUARY

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 29, ARMENPRESS: The fifth shift
of a small non-combat Armenian peacekeeping contingent
will fly to Iraq in mid-January next year, a
spokesperson for the Armenian defense ministry said,
adding that the date of the fourth shift’s return will
become clear after the New Year holidays.
The spokesperson Seyran Shahsuvarian said the
platoon comprises 30 truck drivers, 10 sappers, 3
medics and two officers.
When asking in early December the Armenian
parliament to extend the presence of the Armenian
contingent in Iraq for another year defense minister
Serzh Sarkisian said the peacekeeping mission in Iraq
promotes enhancement of international standing of
Armenia and its armed forces.
He said Armenia could not stay aside of
international integration processes in defense, adding
that the participation of the Armenian contingent in
the peacekeeping mission in Iraq provides additional
levers for protecting national interests in relations
with international organizations.
Sarkisian argued that Armenia’s two other South
Caucasus neighbors Azerbaijan and Georgia have 151 and
864 servicemen in Iraq respectively, but ‘unlike
Azerbaijan and Georgia, Armenian troops are non-combat
and do not participate in military actions’.