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INTERVIEW-Azerbaijan says Russia arming enemy Armenia
Fri Mar 13, 2009 1:02pm EDT

Azerbaijan sees ‘no miracle’ in sight to end conflict

Diplomats see little progress over Nagorno-Karabakh

Time has come for Armenia to ‘think realistically’

By Matt Robinson and Margarita Antidze

BAKU, March 13 (Reuters) – Azerbaijan accused Russia on Friday of
supplying arms to Armenia, its foe in one of the most intractable
conflicts arising from the Soviet Union’s collapse.

Azeri Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov denied his country’s
oil-financed military expansion meant it was planning war to take back
the region of Nagorno-Karabakh from Armenians, and said there was "no
miracle" in sight to resolve the dispute.

"Armenia is being supplied by its military ally, Russia," Azimov, who
is responsible for security issues at the foreign ministry, said in an
interview with Reuters.

He said Moscow was equipping Armenia, its closest ally in the
Caucasus, under cover of restocking its military hardware at the
Russian military base in the Armenian town of Gyumri.

"We know that from time to time Russia is maintaining its presence in
Gyumri. When new pieces are brought in, what happens to the old ones?"
he said. "Things are coming in, and nothing is coming out."

Both Moscow and Yerevan have vehemently denied that Russia is
supplying a military build-up in Armenia. Russia says it moved some
troops and equipment to Gyumri after they pulled out of bases in
neighbouring Georgia under an arms control pact.

Some analysts suggested last year’s war between Russia and Georgia,
also over an unresolved ethnic and territorial dispute, might
revitalise efforts to resolve Nagorno-Karabakh, but diplomats say that
beyond rhetoric there is little progress.

Ethnic Armenian separatists, backed by Armenia, fought a war in the
1990s to throw off Azerbaijan’s control over mountainous
Nagorno-Karabakh. An estimated 30,000 people were killed.

No peace accord has ever been signed, and the ceasefire is frequently
tested by fatal exchanges of fire across the frontline. Armenia backs
Nagorno-Karabakh’s demand for independence, something Azerbaijan says
it can never have.

SHIFTING POWER

But the balance of power in the region has shifted dramatically since
the end of the Soviet Union. Azerbaijan’s economic and military
growth, based on oil exported westwards, has rapidly outpaced that of
Armenia.

The mainly Muslim country, led by President Ilham Aliyev since he
succeeded his father Heydar in 2003, refuses to rule out taking back
Nagorno-Karabakh by force. Azerbaijan votes in a referendum next week
on whether to scrap a two-term presidential limit, allowing Aliyev to
run again in 2013.

Azimov said Azerbaijan, by growing its economy, its military and its
image as a stable partner for the West, was trying to convince Armenia
of the need to compromise.

But he denied Baku was looking for war, saying: "It’s good to have a
strong army, it’s even better not to use it."

"We never said and we never say that we shall go to war with Armenia,"
he said. But with Armenia insisting on independence for the region, "I
have to say that in all circumstances and by all means we will restore
territorial integrity."

Azimov said he hoped the global economic crisis would force Armenia to
give up demands for independence for the region, adding: "The time has
come to think realistically for them."

Armenia has been hit hard by the crisis. Turkey’s decision to close
its border with Armenia in 1993 in solidarity with Azerbaijan has also
taken its toll and shut Armenia out of lucrative energy transit deals
currently enjoyed by Georgia.