YEREVAN REFUSES TO JOIN DRILLS OVER NATO’S SUPPORT FOR BAKU – REPORT

AzerNews Weekly
May 6 2009
Azerbaijan

Armenia has refused to participate in NATO exercises due in Georgia
in protest at the support of the alliance`s chief for Azerbaijan`s
territorial integrity, Russian Regnum news agency quoted Armenian
Foreign Ministry sources as saying.

Yerevan announced it would not take part in the Cooperative Lancer/
Cooperative Longbow drills to be held in the neighboring South
Caucasus republic May 6-June 3 after NATO`s Secretary General Jaap de
Hoop Scheffer made the statement at a news conference after meeting
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Brussels on April 29.

Armenia`s move is actually linked to the Russian factor, analysts
say, as Moscow is striving to prevent these exercises from taking
place. Servicemen from Latvia, Estonia and Kazakhstan have also stated
they would not head to Georgia for the drills, citing diverse reasons.

Azerbaijan`s military men will participate in the exercises.

Around 1,000 soldiers from more than a dozen NATO member states and
partners will practice "crisis response" at the Vaziani base east
of Tbilisi, around 70 km from the nearest Russian troop positions in
breakaway South Ossetia.