ARMENIA OFFICIALLY PULLS OUT OF NATO-LED DRILLS IN GEORGIA
RIA Novosti
19:51 | 05/ 05/ 2009
YEREVAN
Armenia will not take part in upcoming NATO-led military exercises
in Georgia, the Defense Ministry said on Tuesday.
"The Defense Ministry of the Republic of Armenia announces that
due to the current situation, Armenian troops will not take part
in NATO’s Cooperative Longbow /Cooperative Lancer 2009 in Georgia,"
the ministry said in a statement.
The Armenian Aravot newspaper earlier said the decision was made after
a meeting last Wednesday in Brussels between Azerbaijani President
Ilham Aliyev and NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer at
which the NATO chief supported the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.
Relations have been tense for more than two decades between Armenia
and Azerbaijan over Nagorny Karabakh, a region in Azerbaijan with a
largely Armenian population. The region declared its independence
in a 1991 after a referendum boycotted by local Azerbaijanis. The
ensuing conflict claimed some 35,000 lives before a ceasefire was
signed in 1994. The area technically remains part of Azerbaijan,
but has its own de facto government.
The Cooperative Longbow/Cooperative Lancer 2009 command-and-staff
exercise, which Moscow has criticized as unhelpful in the wake of last
summer’s armed conflict between Russia and Georgia over South Ossetia,
is scheduled for May 6-June 1.
According to NATO, the drills are aimed at improving interoperability
between NATO and partner countries, within the framework of Partnership
for Peace, Mediterranean Dialogue and Istanbul Cooperation Initiative
programs, and will not involve any light or heavy weaponry.
Over 1,300 troops from 19 NATO member or ally states were originally
scheduled to participate, but Kazakhstan, Latvia, Estonia, Moldova
and Serbia have already withdrawn.
Meanwhile, Azerbaijan confirmed on May 1 its participation in the
NATO-led exercises, and stressed the country’s commitment to relations
with NATO and its active participation in the Individual Partnership
Action Plan.