ARMENIA TO HAVE PEACEKEEPING BRIGADE BY 2011, GENERAL SAYS

Mediamax news agency
29 May 07

Yerevan, 29 May: The Armenian peacekeeping battalion, which was
formed in 2001, has proved that Armenian can be not only a consumer
of security but also contribute to international peacekeeping
operations, Maj-Gen Mikayel Melkonyan, the head of the Defence
Ministry’s department for international military cooperation and
defence programmes, has said.

He made the remarks today [29 May] when speaking at a news conference
dedicated to international Peacekeepers’ Day, marked on 29 May,
at the NATO Information Centre in Yerevan.

He said that currently, the seventh and fifth batches of Armenian
peacekeepers are serving in Kosovo and Iraq respectively.

Melkonyan said that the formation of "an effective peacekeeping
battalion within a short period of time would not be possible without
the support of our partners – Greece, the USA and Britain".

He said that the peacekeeping battalions will be transformed into
a brigade by 2011-12. Under the Individual Partnership Actions Plan
(IPAP) between Armenia and NATO, the brigade’s formation was scheduled
for 2015 but "we think that the process will be finished by 2011-12",
he said.

Melkonyan said that not only quantity-wise but also qualitative and
functional changes will be made when transforming the battalion into
a brigade and that the formation of the brigade will expand Armenia’s
opportunities to participate in international operations. Melkonyan
said that the number of peacekeepers will increase four to five times.

"It will be the most elite unit of the Armenian Armed Forces,
comprising professional and experienced servicemen," he said.