NO MILITARY BASES, JUST PEACEKEEPERS
by Igor Plugatarev, translated by A. Ignatkin
DEFENSE and SECURITY
Nezavisimoye Voyennoye Obozreniye
November 28, 2007 Wednesday
Russia
Tbilisi blames Moscow for aggressive intent, Baku for fomenting new
threats in the region
RUSSIA’S WITHDRAWAL FROM GEORGIA INCURRED THE WRATH OF TBILISI AND
BAKU; The Russian military presence in Georgia over, Moscow is still
castigated for alleged aggressive intent and fomenting new threats
in the already restive region of the Caucasus.
Moscow honored commitments to Tbilisi and withdrew military bases
from Georgia. Russian Ground Forces Commander-in-Chief, General of the
Army Aleksei Maslov, announced on November 15 that the last echelons
with belongings of the former 12th Military Base was on its way from
Batumi. Russian Army Group in the Caucasus Commander, Major General
Andrei Popov and Georgian Defense Minister, Batu Kutelia, signed the
transfer protocol. The Republic of Georgia accepted the territory of
the base. The 62nd Military Base in Akhalkalaki had been disbanded
and turned over to Georgia in June. The withdrawal of the Russian
troops from Georgia fomented new military-political collisions in
this part of the Caucasus.
Exit and entry
The 137th (Tbilisi outskirt Vaziani) and 50th (Gudauta, Abkhazia)
Russian military bases were withdrawn from Georgia in summer 2001 in
accordance with the 1999 Istanbul Accords. The withdrawal of the two
remaining bases was executed 13.5 months ahead of schedule. It would
have been perfectly all right for the troops and military hardware
to remain in Georgia until the end of 2008.
Aware of the worsening political crisis in Georgia, Moscow made a
point to withdraw the troops and hardware ahead of schedule. Popov
and Base Commander Major General Anatoly Danilov both took the last
echelon, accompanied by 150 servicemen of the Russian Army Group in
the Caucasus and 40 family members.
Azerbaijani-Armenian factor
Baku gritted its collective teeth viewing the Russians’ withdrawal
from Georgia. It was particularly upset by the fact that some railroad
echelons left the former site of the 12th Military Base for Armenia,
namely the 102nd Military Base of the Russian Army Group in the
Caucasus in Gyumri.
The last echelon from Georgia arrived in Gyumri on November 16 with
nearly 200 tons of military load. Its arrival elicited a waspish
comment from Baku that sending military hardware to Armenia, Moscow
fomented additional dangers in the Caucasus already restive to
begin with. Colonel General Eldar Safarov of the Press Service of
the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry even said that "Russia deployed
some military hardware withdrawn from Georgia on the territory of
Azerbaijan – in Nezavisimaya Gazeta."
According to Baku, 70% of the military hardware withdrawn from Georgia
ended up in the lagers of the 102nd Military Base. Azerbaijan and
Armenia remaining in the state of a permanent confrontation as they
are, deployment of the Russian military hardware in Gyumri increased
the risk of the onset of the hostilities.
Not being a diplomat, Safarov openly announced that Moscow’s behavior
was anything but a facilitating settlement of the Azerbaijani-Armenian
conflict. The officer said that Moscow was establishing a new powerful
military base in Armenia, branded its policy in the Caucasus as
"double standards", and warned that "the Azerbaijani regular army
would liberate the occupied lands by other means" sooner or later.
This is not the first time the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry insinuates
that Russia is establishing a second military base in Armenia. Ilgar
Verdiyev of the Press Service of the Defense Ministry made this
"sudden" announcement on the eve of Russian Defense Minister
Anatoly Serdyukov with a military delegation to Armenia in late
September. The implication was that establishment of the base was
to be discussed at the Russian-Armenian talks in Yerevan. Russian
Ambassador in Azerbaijan, Vasily Istratov, denounced the rumors then
and said that Russia had no plans "to establish new military bases in
Armenia." Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanjan, however, couldn’t
resist and said he saw "no reason to confirm or deny anything" since
"anything in connection with security of Armenia is our own sovereign
affair and does not have anything to do with Azerbaijan." "It is our
policy," Oskanjan said," one we will keep promoting."
Anatoly Tsyganok of the Military Analysis Center is convinced that
"the Russian Defense Ministry could be less tight-lipped than it
was on what it meant by equipping the 102nd Base fully." "After all,
it was only several years ago that the then Defense Minister, Sergei
Ivanov, said in Yerevan that the 102nd Military Base was fully staffed
and equipped," Tsyganok said. "In the meantime, there is no need for
Moscow – either strategically or from the standpoint of the potential
theater of operations – to buttress its military positions in the
Caucasus. The establishment of another military base in Armenia will
require some valid political arguments."
The 102nd Military Base was established near Gyumri in 1995. It is
equipped with S-300 air defense complexes and MIG-29 fighters and
manned by 5,000 personnel. Its territorial expansion was announced
in the wake of the signing of some bilateral documents by Moscow and
Yerevan in December 2005.