ARMENIA DENIES RECEIVING $800 MLN WORTH OF RUSSIAN ARMS

The Financial
Jan 12 2009
Georgia

The FINANCIAL — YEREVAN, Armenia’s Defense Ministry on January 12
denied a report from Baku alleging that Russian arms had been handed
over to Yerevan.

Azerbaijani media previously reported that arms worth a total of $800
million had been transferred to Armenia from a Russian military base
in the country.

"That is yet another piece of disinformation by Azerbaijani
propaganda. I don’t think there is a need to comment on it," said the
Armenian defense minister’s press secretary, Col. Seiran Shakhsuvaryan.

Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry said earlier on January 12 that it was
studying the report.

"As soon as the necessary information is obtained, the Foreign Ministry
will formulate its position," said Elkhan Polukhov, first secretary
of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry.

Relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia became strained when Nagorny
Karabakh, a region in Azerbaijan with a largely Armenian population,
declared its independence from Azerbaijan to join Armenia in 1988. The
enclave has been a source of conflict ever since.