Regnum news agency, Russia
Aug 18 2009

Armenian politician says talk of military bases sign of Azeri-Russian tension

An Armenian politician has named dispute over energy resources between
Azerbaijan and Russia as the likely reason for the emergence of
reports about the possibility of Yerevan deploying military bases in
Russia.

It is possible that military bases will indeed be deployed if
Azerbaijan continues its current policy, Stepan Safaryan, Armenian MP
from the opposition Heritage Party, told Russia’s Regnum news agency
in an interview on 18 August.

"The latest developments in relations between Azerbaijan and Russia,
and in particular Azerbaijan’s refusal to sell all of its gas to
Russia and the noise made over the possible decision of Turkey to
grant transit for supplies to the Russian military base in Armenia,
gave grounds to Moscow to ‘bring Azerbaijan into submission’," the
agency quoted Safaryan as saying.

Regnum news agency on 17 August quoted an anonymous source in the
joint headquarters of the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty
Organization as saying that the military circles in Yerevan and Moscow
are discussing the possibility of setting up two Armenian military
bases in the North Caucasus: in Krasnodar Territory and
Dagestan. "They are discussing deployment of a limited contingent to
ensure security of the transport infrastructure," the source said
according to Regnum.

Meanwhile, the Armenian news website Lragir.am dismissed reports on
the possibility of Yerevan having bases in the North Caucasus as
"provocation". On 19 August the website said Russia might attempt this
to channel the energy of the North Caucasus rebels against Armenia.

"One of our well-known political analysts noted that Armenia is
fortunate that Ankara does not allow anyone to use Armenia against
it. This is a painfully correct statement. Yerevan is unlucky with
Russia, however, as it uses Armenia to the full," Lragir’s report
said.