NOT ARMENIA BUT AZERBAIJAN VIOLATES "AGREEMENT ON LIMITATION OF CONVENTIONAL ARMAMENTS IN EUROPE," FORMER RA DEFENCE MINISTER SAYS

Noyan Tapan
Jan 18 2007

YEREVAN, JANUARY 18, NOYAN TAPAN. The "Agreement On Violation of
Conventional Armaments in Europe" envisages that any country being
agreement’s participant has the right and possibility to check another
country-participant.

Lieutenant-General Vagharshak Haroutiunian, former RA Defence Minister,
declared this in his interview to NT correspondent, commenting
upon recent statements of Azerbaijani officials. In his words, the
agreement signed within the framework of OSCE envisages holding of
annual obligatory inspections of agreement’s country-participants.

In particular, he meant the statement of Zahid Oruj, member of
Azerbaijani parliamentary Commission on Security and Defence, according
to which Azerbaijan is going to raise a question on creating a special
inspection within the framework of NATO and OSCE for investigating and
preventing facts of increasing armaments by Armenia, which violates
the "Agreement On Limitation of Conventional Armaments in Europe."

V.Haroutiunian considers that it is Azerbaijan that violates the
agreement and the Armenian Defence Ministry has repeatedly declared
this. In particular, in his words, Azerbaijan has violated and
continues to violate the agreement on two out of five parameters:
on quotas on tanks and armoured cars.

To recap, the "Agreement On Limitation of Conventional Armaments in
Europe" was signed by Soviet Union in 1990. Subsequently, as a result
of collapse of the USSR, the agreement was adapted to new conditions,
according to which quotas for heavy armament (the countries cannot have
more than 220 tanks, 220 armoured cars and 150 artillery systems) and
aviation (no more than 100 fighting planes and 50 fighting helicopters)
are established in the armed forces of Armenia and Azerbaijan.