U.S. Expert: Yerevan Has Army, Baku Has Armed Forces Only

U.S. EXPERT: YEREVAN HAS ARMY, BAKU HAS ARMED FORCES ONLY

PanARMENIAN.Net
27.11.2006 16:57 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ During debates held in the Johns Hopkins University,
Washington, senior associate at the American Foreign Policy Council
Wayne Merry described Azerbaijan’s constant threats to start blitzkrieg
as unreal. "Nagorno Karabakh is a natural stronghold, which was
consolidated by the Armenian army. Even the U.S. army will face
hardships in case of attacking it," the expert said. "The Armenian
Armed Forces excel their rival several times. It’s not a secret
that Armenia has an army while Azerbaijan has ‘armed forces’ only,"
Merry said. In his opinion, in case of resumption of war Azerbaijan
will hope for human resources while Armenia will rely on armament
and efficiency. Armenians will defend Karabakh while Azerbaijan will
have to conquer it, what is unreal, he added. Taking into account
these factors Merry considers that Azerbaijan will never succeed in
settling the Nagorno Karabakh conflict by force.

According to him, Baku’s military rhetoric constitutes a threat of
war. As a settlement variant Merry proposes ‘territories in exchange
of status’ meanwhile the Lachin corridor should remain under control
of the Armenian side, reports Yerkir Online.