AZERBAIJAN’S GROWING MILITARY MIGHT NOT A THREAT TO ARMENIA, PUNDIT SAYS
Arminfo
27 Jun 07
Yerevan, 27 June: The growth in Azerbaijan’s military might and
the speeding weapons race in connection with the Nagornyy Karabakh
conflict does not always mean that the conflict is escalating,
Aleksandr Iskandaryan, director of the Caucasus Media Institute,
told a news conference today.
He said that the maintenance of the current status quo was favourable
for Armenia. Azerbaijan keeps talking about a million refugees
and lost territories, but Nagornyy Karabakh remains independent
and all Azerbaijan has are resolutions by several international
organizations. The examples of Taiwan, Kashmir and North Cyprus
indicate that unrecognized states can easily survive for decades.
"So we should not fear that Azerbaijan will complete its rearmament,
build its energy projects and then will start a war with us,"
Iskandaryan said. He ruled out interference by international forces
in the conflict as was the case in the Balkans. It might have happened
if Nagornyy had been part Europe and if the USA had got very close to
the region by conquering Iran. But this is extremely unlikely, he said.
Khosrov Harutyunyan, leader of the Christian Democratic Union and
a former prime minister, did not agree. Harutyunyan said that the
international community might not interfere in the conflict but it
could allow Azerbaijan to resume military operations.
"Let’s see how this is going to work and how further developments
will be," Harutyunyan said.
Harutyunyan criticizes Armenian diplomats for being
very "modest"
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
