AZERBAIJAN MAY ARM AGAINST US THROUGH RUSSIA

Lragir.am
11 Sept

Member of Parliament Arthur Aghabekyan, ARF Dashnaktsutyun, chair
of the defense and security committee, the ex-deputy minister of
defense, stated in the seminar on the militarization of the Caucasus
on September 11 although the military budget of Azerbaijan was boosted
considerably, the figures mean very little. "Azerbaijan may boost
its budget to three billion, so may Georgia, but it does not imply
anything. It is possible to be the most effective with a very small
budget," Arthur Aghabekyan says.

Arthur Aghabekyan says if Georgia and Azerbaijan spend their boosted
military assignments on the social problems of the army, there is
no reason to worry. Arthur Aghabekyan thinks the better an officer
lives, the less he wants a war. Meanwhile, the member of parliament
says the life of the Azerbaijani officer is very hard.

"If Azerbaijan does not enlarge the personnel but spends more money,
it should worry us," Arthur Aghabekyan says. He says Azerbaijan may
welcome Russia which has seceded from the agreement on the limitation
of armament for the time being, because it is an opportunity for
unlimited armament of the military force. Arthur Aghabekyan says the
agreement was a restricting mechanism for military cooperation between
its members, and without this agreement military cooperation between
Azerbaijan and Russia is a new armament opportunity for our neighbor.