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Re: Nagorno-Karabagh: Military Balance Between Armenia & Azerbaijan
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Re: Nagorno-Karabagh: Military Balance Between Armenia & Azerbaijan
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Re: Nagorno-Karabagh: Military Balance Between Armenia & Azerbaijan
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Re: Nagorno-Karabagh: Military Balance Between Armenia & Azerbaijan
Statements such as the one below have been coming out in rapid succession in the past two weeks. It seems official Yerevan is confident in the cards it holds, and it should be since the Great Powers have essentially shunned the turkish/azeri demands for Armenian concessions.
Sarkisian Warns Azerbaijan On Armenian Army Day
YEREVAN (Combined Sources)–In a thinly veiled warning to Azerbaijan, President Serzh Sarkisian said on Thursday that a military assault on Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh would trigger “serious counterattacks” with strong elements of surprise.
Sarkisian and his leading political opponents praised the Armenian Armed Forces as the country marked the 18th anniversary of their official establishment. They visited the Yerablur military cemetery in Yerevan to pay their respects to Armenians killed in the 1991-1994 Karabakh liberation struggle.
“Today the Armenian army is the iron guarantee that ensures our survival and development and is a sobering deterrent against any hot-headed adventure,” Sarkisian said in a written address to the nation dedicated to what is a public holiday called Army Day.
“The author of any provocation must definitely expect serious counterattacks and big surprises from the Armenian army,” he said. “Failure to realize that is at least naivety.”
Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian, who is a prominent war veteran, issued a similar warning earlier this week. He said Armenian forces have significantly beefed up defense fortifications around Karabakh in recent years and are prepared for renewed fighting regularly threatened by Azerbaijan.
Sarkisian visited Yerablur together with other Armenian leaders to lay a wreath at the tomb of Armenia’s first defense minister, the late Vazgen Sarkisian. He also used the occasion to decorate and promote several senior army officers.
“Today you are awarded for your achievements, and it’s thanks to your achievements that our country becomes stronger both politically and psychologically,” he said during the award ceremony. “With these awards our country and people express their appreciation and gratitude to those, who devotedly serve the Republic of Armenia, who have devoted their lives to the mission of defending and maintaining peace in our country.”
In his written remarks, Sarkisian had underscored the army’s pivotal role in maintaining the balance of peace in the region. “The prevention of war is the greatest victory for any normal country that respects the rights of nations and states, and the Armenian officers and soldiers are doing it effectively,” he said.
Prime Minister, Tigran Sargsyan, echoed the president’s sentiments. “Each of us is visiting Yerablur with pride because we have a victorious army,” he said. “We must do everything to have a strong army that is a reliable guarantor of the security of our state and the Armenian people.”
“The borders of our Motherland are peaceful today, and our people create their free life in Armenia and Artsakh thanks to the devoted service of our brave soldiers and commanders,” he said, praising the army as the “pride of our people.”
His Holiness Karekin I, Catholicos of All Armenians, issued his own statement on the occasion, blessing “the officers and soldiers of the Armenian Armed Forces and all Armenians throughout the world on the occasion of Army Day.”
“We ask the Almighty to grant success to the brave and amiable officers and soldiers in their service to our country,” Echmiadzin said. “May the Lord bless and strengthen our army, grant peace and reconciliation to our native land and to all the Armenians throughout the world."
For the first time in more than 600 years, Armenia is free and independent, and we are therefore obligated
to place our national interests ahead of our personal gains or aspirations.
http://www.armenianhighland.com/main.htmlComment
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Re: Nagorno-Karabagh: Military Balance Between Armenia & Azerbaijan
“... We come here to bow to our heroes. We are the winner army and I am proud to know that our soldiers defend our borders with dignity,” Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan.
To our fallen heroes on this day:
You live in our hearts and soul
We can never forget you
We will always remember
To the soldiers of the Armenian Armed Forces who give us great pride and honor.........I salute you.
We shall never loss again.B0zkurt HunterComment
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Re: Nagorno-Karabagh: Military Balance Between Armenia & Azerbaijan
George Ghazaryan: We are planning to create film series about Karabakh war
28.01.2010 17:12 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ “War is not Traceless”, the second film about Karabakh war, will be prepared in 2010, says film director George Ghazaryan.
As he told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter, the motion picture will form part of the film series featuring the true history of Artsakh war.
“The idea of creating a film series was born long ago. The first film– “The Shooting House” – was produced in 2009. Telling about civilians, we aim to present the real picture of war,” Ghazaryan said.
The second film – “War is not Traceless” – is based on the stories of Gurgen Melikyan, Dean at Yerevan State University’s Oriental Languages Department.
“The film plot is based on real stories told by Gurgen Melikyan, who saw an Armenian serviceman helping a pregnant woman reach an Armenian settlement, ridding her of Azeri soldiers’ barabarism,” the director said.
Unlike the first film which lasts 20 minutes, the second film has 40 minutes’ running time, said the scenario writer and director.
George Ghazaryan was for many years a photo reporter and TV journalist, director and documentary film maker, founder of the “League of NKR Journalists”.
Gurgen Melikyan, Oriental studies specialists, Professor at Yerevan State University (YSU), Dean of Oriental Studies Department. Chairman of Gurgen Melikyan fund for over 10 years.
Since the times of Karabakh war, Gurgen Melikyan rendered humanitarian assistance to Artsakh, maintaining permanent contacts with reputable guests regularly visiting the area. Over the recent years, his fund has carried out various activities. One of key components of the organization’s program is the assistance to large families of Kashatgh region.
Shooting House is the first feature film in the history of Artsakh (NKR). It’s a 20-minute film based on the history of writer, journalist and participant of Karabakh war Ashot Beglaryan. The film was shot under the support of NKR Defense Ministry and Public Television of Artsakh (financial sponsor: businessman Karen Baghdasarov). Starring in the film is participant of Karabakh war Martin Aloyan, actor of the Drama Theatre after Vahram Papazyan.
The conflict between Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan broke out in 1988 as result of the ethnic cleansing the latter launched in the final years of the Soviet Union. The Karabakh War was fought from 1991 to 1994. Since the ceasefire in 1994, sealed by Armenia, Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan, most of Nagorno Karabakh and several regions of Azerbaijan around it (the security zone) remain under the control of NKR defense army. Armenia and Azerbaijan are holding peace talks mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group up till now.Comment
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Re: Nagorno-Karabagh: Military Balance Between Armenia & Azerbaijan
Armed incident in Azerbaijani military unit leaves 6 dead, 2 injured
Two soldiers shot dead four fellow soldiers and injured the other two in an azerbaijani military unit today, Ministry of Defense said.
According to the Defense Ministry, the soldiers shot themselves dead after they committed the murders.
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Re: Nagorno-Karabagh: Military Balance Between Armenia & Azerbaijan
Armed incident in military unit: 6 dead, 2 injured: Defense Ministry (UPDATED)
29.01.2010 12:08
Azerbaijan, Baku, Jan. 29 / Trend News, K.Zarbaliyeva /
Two soldiers shot deadly four military and injured the other two in one of the military units in Azerbaijan on Jan. 28, Republic's Ministry of Defense told Trend News.
The case is under investigation. The public will be informed about the incident.
The soldiers killed officers by submachine gun entering the room where they were, a military source told Trend News.
One of the dead officers was a division commander.The soldiers who opened fire were shot while trying to run.
Deputy defense minister Chingiz Mammadov and other officials have visited the military unit.Comment
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Re: Nagorno-Karabagh: Military Balance Between Armenia & Azerbaijan
It seems that the Azeri public is not buying the Defence Ministers version of this tragic shooting which tends to show the two soldiers as deranged and suicidal who shot themselves after the incident.Originally posted by Karabed View Post
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Azerbaijan's Trend news agency cast doubt on the ministry's version of events, quoting military sources as saying the two soldiers who carried out the shooting had been shot and killed while trying to flee the scene. It said a local division commander was among the dead victims.
The opposition Azadliq newspaper reported that the shooting took place in Azerbaijan's Dashkesan region on the border with Armenia.
Azerbaijan is locked in a long-simmering conflict with Armenia over the disputed Nagorny Karabakh region, which broke from Baku's control with Yerevan's support during a war in the early 1990s.
Azadliq said a number of senior officers were among the victims and claimed that violence within the military was to blame for the shooting.
Experts and soldiers' rights groups have raised concerns about violence in the Azerbaijani military, saying a culture of corruption and brutal hazing prevails.
In a 2008 report, the International Crisis Group said the Azerbaijani military was plagued by "endemic corruption, nepotism and hazing."
Azerbaijani military prosecutors in 2008 arrested two sergeants and reprimanded several senior officers after videos surfaced on the Internet of conscript soldiers being savagely beaten.
Authorities have denied, however, that hazing is widespread in the military.
B0zkurt HunterComment
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Re: Nagorno-Karabagh: Military Balance Between Armenia & Azerbaijan
Six Dead In Shooting Incident On Azerbaijani Military Base
Azerbaijani troops march during a Republic Day parade in Baku. While military spending has increased, conditions among the rank and file of the conscript army remain poor.
Last updated (GMT/UTC): 29.01.2010 10:50
(RFE/RL) -- Two Azerbaijani soldiers today shot and killed four officers, including their unit's commander, before turning their weapons on themselves.
Two other servicemen were wounded in the incident, which took place at a military base in Azerbaijan's western Dashkesan region, near the border with Armenia.
It's not clear what provoked the incident. But the shooting is the latest in a series of troubling events in the Azerbaijani military, including a similar shooting on a military base in May 2009, and the assassination of the country's air force commander that February.
Ilqar Mammadov, a Baku-based political analyst, says the shooting will likely lead to criticism and sharper scrutiny of how the armed services are managed.
"This is a very sad incident. And it most likely reflects problems in the military administration," Mammadov said. "These kinds of attacks happen occasionally on military bases, where sometimes emotions run high."
Military Impunity
Today's shooting comes just days after President Ilham Aliyev awarded Defense Minister Safar Abiyev one of Azerbaijan's highest state honors for building up the country's armed forces.
The armed forces have seen their budget grow steadily in recent years, as Aliyev seeks to prove his country's military superiority to neighboring Armenia, with whom it has an ongoing dispute over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Military spending has reached a substantial $1.5 billion, but little has been done to reform rank-and-file conditions in Azerbaijan's poorly paid conscript army, where the International Crisis Group said in a 2008 report that corruption, nepotism, and mistreatment were common.
Many Azerbaijanis consider the Defense Ministry to be one of the country's most corrupt institutions, and today's shooting is likely to prompt criticism of Abiyev, who has served in his post since 1994.
Few details are available about the shooters or the victims. Speaking to French news agency AFP, Temur Abdullayev, a Defense Ministry deputy spokesman, said only that two soldiers had opened fire, killing four servicemen and wounding two others before killing themselves.
Officials at Baku's Military Hospital say they are under strict orders not to disclose any information about the dead or wounded. The Military Prosecutor's Office says it has launched an investigation.
Uzeir Jafarov, a military analyst and retired lieutenant colonel in the Azerbaijani Army, says he is skeptical that the military will address the potential underlying causes of the shooting, such as hazing, widespread corruption, and poor living conditions for conscripts.
"We have been demanding that the army leadership be replaced. But instead, they are honored with the highest awards, and have reached a level of such self-confidence that incidents like this one have become ordinary," Jafarov says.
"There is a state of impunity in the Azerbaijani Army."
Jafarov notes that following the May incident, when a soldier, Orxan Safarov, killed four officers at a base in Seyfali, "even the trial was held behind closed doors."
Safarov, whose parents say he was a victim of hazing, received a life sentence.
In February, General Rail Rzayev, the commander of Azerbaijan's air force, was shot and killed near his home in Baku, in circumstances that remain unclear.
RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service contributed to this report
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