NATO AND CSTO COOPERATION REPLENISH EACH OTHER

PanARMENIAN.Net
25.11.2009 15:12 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "Armenia does not oppose CSTO with NATO," Hrayr
Karapetyan, Head of NA Standing Committee on Defense, National Security
and Internal Affairs, told a news conference in Yerevan.

At that he noted that during the meeting with Robert Simons, NATO
Secretary General’s Special Representative in South Caucasus and
Central Asia, they CSTO and NATO "replenished each other" in terms
of allying with Armenia.

According to Karapetyan, Armenia closely cooperates with CSTO member
states and since 2002, it has been collaborating with NATO within
the frames of Armenia-NATO Individual-Partnership Program (IPAP).

ARFD faction member also pointed out to existing fears in terms of
cooperation with both organizations. "As much as cooperation with
NATO is concerned, certain members of that political-military bloc,
particularly Turkey and Romania, are actively assisting in Turkey’s
armament program," he noted.

With regard to cooperation with CSTO, he particularly focused on
Russia which has started an active military-political cooperation
with Azerbaijan, something that contradicts the spirit and letter
of CSTO Treaty. "At this point a very natural question arises as to
whether Russia sees any difference between Armenia and Azerbaijan."

Karapetyan stressed the importance of Armenia’s extending cooperation
within CSTO frameworks while maintaining close ties with NATO. "To
maintain effective cooperation with Armenia, CSTO and NATO member
states should not assist in Azerbaijan’s armament program," he said.