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Re: Nagorno-Karabagh: Military Balance Between Armenia & Azerbaijan
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Re: Nagorno-Karabagh: Military Balance Between Armenia & Azerbaijan
Yes, she is a total disgrace as well as being naive and stupid.Originally posted by armnuke View Post
Russia is far from perfect but they do protect Armenia's borders, provide military hardware, etc which is pivotal to Armenia's survival- also, Iran and Armenia have good relations despite NATO/EU/US pressure applied to Armenia with respect to Iran. NATO/EU/US can hardly do anything to help Armenia and even if they wanted to (which they don't). They have been unable/unwilling to force the Turks/Orcs to lift the blockade, they provide no protection against Armenia's genocidal Turkic/Orcish neighbors, provide almost zero economic benefit to Armenia, stand diametrically opposed to Armenia's safety and interests- as long as Turkey has US bases, Azeris have a drop of oil or a fume of natural gas, and they have a paranoia of a renewed Cold-War with the Russian bogeyman- they will continue to follow a foolish course.
Just look how NATO/EU/US helped Georgia, really, September 2008 was a coup de grace for the NATO/EU/US involvement in the Caucasus and the true reach/power/influence on the region was on full display and it was as well all know, pitiful to say the least. Even with Bush in office with his cadre of neocons and Israel firsters, could not stop Georgia/Saakashvili from making an idiotic decision, and when he did, Georgia's western "allies" did nothing to help them.
Furthermore, Russia will always be in region, it is not a passing fancy it is their near abroad and they are fully dialed in for better or worse. The Russian military has come very far even from 2008 with regards to morale, training, and weaponry and they now control the situation in Caucasus, Crimea and Donetsk, and Syria. This US is now even implicitly working with Russia in Syria because unlike the NATO/EU/US, Russia is proactive and in control. All of Russia's old friends are finally (albeit slowly/cautiously and at various degrees, even those who are now part of NATO and hated the USSR) beginning to coalesce around Russia: Armenia, Bulgaria, Greece, Syria, Iran Cyprus, Kurds, Serbs, Macedonia - sh*t, even Hungary,etc. This is because they all recognize there is more to gain by alliance with Russia and seek the same goals and Russia is not the problem, it is the Muslims (Turks, Albanians, Bosniaks, Sunni Jihadists)- they all want a to stop Turkish and Sunni Muslim expansion and insatiable avarice, violence, islamo-facsism, etc while NATO/EU/US has only placated our enemies and sacrificed Eastern and Southern European as well as Near Eastern Christians for generations in the name of oil, Russophobia, hatred of Eastern Christians and Orthodox, etc.
NATO/EU/US does not really care about democracy, freedom, human rights. They only care about what benefits their own selfish desires- they care only about subservient/compliant regimes, oil, and military bases. And whether the US likes it or not, our Persian friends are liberalizing and will get stronger- in fact they are on the rise while the Turks are on the decline.
I remember when that waste of oxygen and carbon, Levon Ter-Petrossian came to meet with Clinton in 1994. He and his advisers wanted to align 100% with the US, and were under pressure by the White House, US State Dept. and Pentagon to kick out the Russians, re-orient with NATO, make nice with the Turks/Orcs, retreat from Artsakh and were promised the world if they did so. LTP actually asked a group of us what are thoughts were with regards to this strategy. All of us, American-Armenians, patriotic, pro-US, some former veterans told him categorically, "No". We advised him to have a dual relationship and that has served Armenia well.
Armenia is on the frontline and though small with scant resources, it will stand tall.General Antranik (1865-1927): “I am not a nationalist. I recognize only one nation, the nation of the oppressed.”Comment
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Re: Nagorno-Karabagh: Military Balance Between Armenia & Azerbaijan
Says ...Originally posted by Joseph View Post
Armine Sahakyan is a human rights activist based in Armenia..... and more of her articles ... paid by who
Politics is not about the pursuit of morality nor what's right or wrong
Its about self interest at personal and national level often at odds with the above.
Great politicians pursue the National interest and small politicians personal interestsComment
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Re: Nagorno-Karabagh: Military Balance Between Armenia & Azerbaijan
Armenia made ammunition
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Re: Nagorno-Karabagh: Military Balance Between Armenia & Azerbaijan
In response to Armine Sahakyan, the w h or e pictured above.
Dear Armine, first of all, notwithstanding the dual blockade imposed on tiny, landlocked, and resource-poor Armenia by NATO-member Turkey and its Mini-Me Azerbaijan, thank your for admitting that even under such dire circumstances the situation in Armenia is NOT the worst in the former soviet union, despite the fact that geography and neighborhood wise, no other soviet republic (and few countries on the planet) face such conditions, and that being sandwiched between bloodthirsty neighbors intent on its complete and utter destruction, and not only in physical terms, but any trace thereof.But Armenians are also painfully aware that their nation continues to be one of the poorest in the former Soviet Union --
Dear Armine, if the West/US was interested in reducing any degree of “Russian influence and subjugation” of Armenia, they should have seriously pressed Turkey, its own NATO ally, to lift its blockade of Armenia. Sure, they US/West has repeatedly made such calls-which its ally Turkey has blatantly disregarded. But if the US/West was truly serious about calls for lifting the blockade against Armenia by Turkey, then they could certainly have made it happen. They could have placed sanctions on Turkey itself until the blockade against Armenia was lifted, and I’m not even mentioning the illegal military occupation of Cyprus.and many believe this reflects Russia's long subjugation of their country.
Otherwise, for you, Washington, brussels or anyone else to tell Armenia to shift away from Russia would be economic suicide, the same as telling Armenia to go to hell—I am not even going into the military/physical and existential threats posed to Armenia by such a move. You really should know better, but hey, you’re here to push forward a political agenda that suits the interests of your masters, and Armenia’s interest at heart is not what motivates you—completely understandable. For some reason, the word prostitution just came to mind!
Secondly, money talks and bull-shet walks, so get your facts straight before you make joke out of yourself:
Russia is the largest trading partner of Armenia, with a bilateral turnover of $1.2 billion. This figure is minuscule for Russia, but crucial to Armenia.
The same applies to investments, with Russia accounting for more than $3 billion (or more than 40 percent) of all cumulative direct investments in Armenia.
Dear Armine, do you expect to be taken seriously with such a naïve, childish remark? Do you really expect to be taken seriously as a journalist? That’s not how the world works, and I think you’ll have a hard time convincing the naivest of your intended naive audience.Armenians also have become aware that Russia's motive for guaranteeing their military security is not altogether altruistic -- that is, a big brother protecting a smaller one just to be nice.
Russia is in Armenia because it’s suits Russia’s geopolitical interests, not out of love for Armenians or any other reason, and you should know better than that. By the same token, it does NOT suit Western/Turkish interests, and that is why lapdogs like yourself on the payroll are being paid to spread bull-shet and plant seeds of resentment in the Armenia public in hopes of achieving some “color revolution” or regime change.Last edited by Artsakh; 02-28-2016, 12:13 PM.Comment
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Re: Nagorno-Karabagh: Military Balance Between Armenia & Azerbaijan
here here!Originally posted by Artsakh View Post
In response to Armine Sahakyan, the w h or e pictured above.
Dear Armine, first of all, notwithstanding the dual blockade imposed on tiny, landlocked, and resource-poor Armenia by NATO-member Turkey and its Mini-Me Azerbaijan, thank your for admitting that even under such dire circumstances the situation in Armenia is NOT the worst in the former soviet union, despite the fact that geography and neighborhood wise, no other soviet republic (and few countries on the planet) face such conditions, and that being sandwiched between bloodthirsty neighbors intent on its complete and utter destruction, and not only in physical terms, but any trace thereof.
Dear Armine, if the West/US was interested in reducing any degree of “Russian influence and subjugation” of Armenia, they should have seriously pressed Turkey, its own NATO ally, to lift its blockade of Armenia. Sure, they US/West has repeatedly made such calls-which its ally Turkey has blatantly disregarded. But if the US/West was truly serious about calls for lifting the blockade against Armenia by Turkey, then they could certainly have made it happen. They could have placed sanctions on Turkey itself until the blockade against Armenia was lifted, and I’m not even mentioning the illegal military occupation of Cyprus.
Otherwise, for you, Washington, brussels or anyone else to tell Armenia to shift away from Russia would be economic suicide, the same as telling Armenia to go to hell—I am not even going into the military/physical and existential threats posed to Armenia by such a move. You really should know better, but hey, you’re here to push forward a political agenda that suits the interests of your masters, and Armenia’s interest at heart is not what motivates you—completely understandable. For some reason, the word prostitution just came to mind!
Secondly, money talks and bull-shet walks, so get your facts straight before you make joke out of yourself:
Russia is the largest trading partner of Armenia, with a bilateral turnover of $1.2 billion. This figure is minuscule for Russia, but crucial to Armenia.
The same applies to investments, with Russia accounting for more than $3 billion (or more than 40 percent) of all cumulative direct investments in Armenia.
Dear Armine, do you expect to be taken seriously with such a naïve, childish remark? Do you really expect to be taken seriously as a journalist? That’s not how the world works, and I think you’ll have a hard time convincing the naivest of your intended naive audience.
Russia is in Armenia because it’s suits Russia’s geopolitical interests, not out of love for Armenians or any other reason, and you should know better than that. By the same token, it does NOT suit Western/Turkish interests, and that is why lapdogs like yourself on the payroll are being paid to spread bull-shet and plant seeds of resentment in the Armenia public in hopes of achieving some “color revolution” or regime change.General Antranik (1865-1927): “I am not a nationalist. I recognize only one nation, the nation of the oppressed.”Comment
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Re: Nagorno-Karabagh: Military Balance Between Armenia & Azerbaijan
Why bother? She sounds like a receptionist writing a letter of complaint to her boss.Originally posted by Artsakh View Post
In response to Armine Sahakyan,
I would be more worried on the damages of Richard Giragosian.Comment
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Re: Nagorno-Karabagh: Military Balance Between Armenia & Azerbaijan
Good job Armenia!Originally posted by burjuin View PostArmenia made ammunition
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Re: Nagorno-Karabagh: Military Balance Between Armenia & Azerbaijan
Armenia made ammunition
Comment
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Re: Nagorno-Karabagh: Military Balance Between Armenia & Azerbaijan
Reuters reporting on sultans failure
In oil crisis, Azerbaijan leader is hostage to father's legacy
Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev attends a news briefing at the Presidential Palace in Tbilisi, Georgia, November 5, 2015. REUTERS/David Mdzinarishvili
Reuters/David Mdzinarishvili
Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev attends a news briefing at the Presidential Palace in Tbilisi, Georgia, November 5, 2015.
Reuters/David Mdzinarishvili
By Christian Lowe
MOSCOW (Reuters) - If Azerbaijan's leader Ilham Aliyev is to steer his oil exporting state out of its economic crisis, he will have to show a resolve not in evidence during his privileged upbringing or in the 13 years since he succeeded his father as president.
Aliyev, 54, is confronting the biggest crisis of his presidency after the fall in the global price of oil wiped about a third off the value of the national currency, caused a sharp economic slowdown and prompted outbreaks of civil unrest.
People who know Aliyev say he is a competent administrator who has put in place important steps to contain the crisis.
But some observers say those are sticking plaster solutions, and that the long-term answer -- real economic reform -- is blocked by a coterie of advisors and ministers Aliyev inherited from his father and whom he is reluctant to push out.
Prime Minister Artur Rasizade has been in the same job since 1998, when he served under Ilham Aliyev's father, Heydar. The influential presidential chief of staff, 77-year-old Ramiz Mehtiyev, has been in the same role since 1995.
Asked if he believed Ilham Aliyev was capable of pushing through real change, Steinar Gil, a former Norwegian ambassador to Azerbaijan, said: "I doubt that. If he really wanted that, why is he keeping all these old guard people?"
"This regime has frozen," said Gil, whose country, via state energy firm Statoil, is one of the biggest foreign investors in Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan's ability to ride out the storm of low oil prices will provide clues as to whether other oil producers, from Russia to Algeria and Nigeria, can also survive their economic crises without slipping into chaos.
HIS FATHER'S SON
Ilham Aliyev has spent most of his life in the shadow of his father, who worked his way up from poverty to become a senior official in the Soviet Union, then set up newly-independent Azerbaijan as a thriving petro-state.
The younger Aliyev, like many offspring of leading Communist Party officials, studied at the Moscow State Institute of International Affairs. He later taught there.
After his father became Azerbaijan's president in 1993, he was appointed to a senior role in the state oil company and made president of the national Olympic committee, part of a gradual process of grooming him for the highest office.
But according to people close to government circles, Aliyev was ambivalent about the role for which he was being prepared.
One person who worked for the ruling establishment at the time when power was gradually being handed over to the son, said Ilham Aliyev lacked the charisma of his father.
"Ilham is a nice person, but not a great politician," the person said at the time.
OPPORTUNITY TO CHANGE
In the final years of his rule, Heydar Aliyev signed deals with companies such as BP and Statoil to drill for oil in Azerbaijan's sector of the Caspian Sea.
In large part because of those oil deals and subsequent revenue from energy exports, Azerbaijan's economy has grown uninterrupted since Ilham Aliyev was elected president in 2003, two months before his father's death.
In the early years of the younger Aliyev's rule, the new oil production delivered some of the fastest economic growth rates in the world. The slowdown now is therefore a jolt.
While the boom saw flame-shaped skyscrapers rise above the seaside capital housing luxury apartments and a Four Seasons hotel, many of the country's 9.5 million people remain poor. Recent months have seen riot police use tear gas, water cannon and batons to break up street demonstrations.
Matthew Bryza, U.S. ambassador to Azerbaijan until 2012, said Ilham Aliyev and his respected finance minister, Samir Sharifov, had taken some important decisions.
A $34 billion sovereign wealth fund provides a cushion for the economy, the central bank has stopped trying to prop up the manat currency and the budget is being adjusted to take into account the lower oil price.
“What militates against a smooth transition… is that there has not been sufficient macro-economic reform. There has been some but not been enough diversification of economic growth or fiscal discipline. That is the bad news."
"The good news is that those who are in favor of reform see this as an opportunity. This provides some leverage for the financial and economic ministries, the others, to advance reforms,” said Bryza.
However, Gil, the former Norwegian ambassador, said there were promises of real economic reform back when he was posted in Azerbaijan, when Aliyev senior was still president.
"It was talk then and it's talk now," he said.
"I am sure that Ilham Aliyev understands that something has to be done. I do not think he is really capable of doing it."Comment
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