MOSCOW REFUTED REPORTS ON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A SECOND RUSSIAN MILITARY BASE IN THE TERRITORY OF ARMENIA.
TREND Information, Azerbaijan
Sept 27 2007
Azerbaijan, Baku / corr Trend S.Agayeva / Moscow refuted reports on
the establishment of a second Russian military base in the territory
of Armenia. Vasiliy Istratov, the Russian Ambassador to Azerbaijan,
told Trend on 17 September that these reports are not true.
Officials of the Russian Defense Ministry are on visit to Armenia.
According to media reports, they are holding meetings with officials
of the Defense Ministry and the Azerbaijan Government to discuss the
establishment of a second Russian military base in Armenia.
Russia currently has military base division 102 located in Armenia.
"Russia does not have plans to establish a second military base in
Armenia," the Ambassador stressed.
At the insistence of the Azerbaijani authorities, Soviet military
bases were liquidated even at the beginning of 1990s. The Russian
military forces will finally leave Georgia in 2008.
Azerbaijan seriously responded to reports on the establishment of a
new Russian military in Armenia.
"The establishment of a second Russian military base in Armenia will
become the next factor testifying Moscow’s support for our enemy
country," Ziyafat Asgarov, the Azerbaijani First Vice Premier and
the Chairman of the permanent parliamentary commission on defense
and security of the Milli Majlis (Azerbaijani Parliament), said in
talks with journalists on 27 September.
It throws a shadow on the objectivity and neutrality of Russia’s
mediation in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
The establishment of Russia’s second military base will complicate
the critical situation in the region," Ilgar Verdiyev, spokesman for
the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry, told Trend earlier.
Uzeyir Jafarov, a military expert and a retired Lieutenant Colonel,
said that the establishment of the second military base in Armenia
will cause protest by other countries in the region.
Russia regards the expansion and strengthening of the military base in
Gumri as its major task. The military expert regards the establishment
of the Russian base in Armenia to be dangerous.
"Actions by Russia will raise tensions in the region and considering
the unresolved state of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, one might
predict the seriousness of this tension," Jafarov added.
" Azerbaijan should raise the issue at the OSCE. Russia, as member
of the OSCE Minsk Group undertook a responsibility to help resolve
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," he said.
Armenia has occupied 20% of Azerbaijani land, including the
Nagorno-Karabakh region and its seven surrounding districts. Since
1992, these territories have been under the occupation of the Armenian
Forces. In 1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement
at which time the active hostilities ended.