ARMENIA WORRIED BY PLAN FOR ANTI-MISSILE SYSTEM IN AZERBAIJAN
Agence France Presse — English
June 20, 2007 Wednesday 2:49 PM GMT
Armenia voiced concern Wednesday that a Russian proposal to host
part of a US missile defense system in neighbouring Azerbaijan
could destabilize the volatile Caucasus region wedged between Russia
and Iran.
"The hosting of anti-missile stations in Europe is the business of
Russia, Europe and the US, but when it is a question of Azerbaijan,
this interests and worries us, as it concerns our region," Armenian
Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian said.
"We are concerned with the consequences of this on the balance in the
region and on regional political and security questions," Oskanian
said following a meeting with NATO’s special representative to the
Caucasus region, Robert Simmons.
Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in a territorial dispute
over the Nagorny Karabakh ethnic-Armenian enclave since before the
break-up of the Soviet Union.
Azerbaijan lost control of the territory and seven surrounding regions
during a war in the early 1990s, but Karabakh’s status has yet to
be settled.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed using the Russian-leased
Gabala radar station in Azerbaijan as an alternative host for elements
of a US missile defence system planned for the Czech Republic and
Poland.
The defence chiefs of Russia and Azerbaijan confirmed Wednesday their
support for the proposal, which Washington has said it is examining.