Nagorno-Karabagh: Military Balance Between Armenia & Azerbaijan

[burjuin]

Re: Nagorno-Karabagh: Military Balance Between Armenia & Azerbaijan

Volunteers at the place of permanent deployment of Yeghnikner military unit in the north

[Eddo211]

Re: Nagorno-Karabagh: Military Balance Between Armenia & Azerbaijan

Eddo Jan we have plenty of night vision in Armenia. What we don't have is thermal vision. If there is no source of light (like if the moon is behind some clouds) or if there is heavy fog, night vision doesn't work. The same if the enemy is hiding behind a shrub. Night vision makes you able to see at night just as you would during the day. So if there is cover you won't see the enemy. Thermal vision on the other hand senses body heat and allows you to see even if the enemy is behind some bushes. I looked into sending some thermal vision and it's illegal to export even for personal use. If you have one in the US and want to go hunting in Canada, you cannot take it with you, even to Canada! You can certainly try, and might be able to successfully sneak one or two units, but almost impossible in mass amounts.

Thermal imaging.....good stuff, wish I had one for my AK.

Abu you are right. Forget the North.......We hit supply depot,right here and take all thermal vision equip, loaded in a plane and I will fly it to Mexico. From there no problem getting it to Armenia.

Just kidding.

[armnuke]

Re: Nagorno-Karabagh: Military Balance Between Armenia & Azerbaijan

Is Russia Really Armenia’s Ally?

Azerbaijan’s recent military attacks on Artsakh/Karabagh and Armenia call into serious question the Armenian-Russian defense pact and relationship.

Russia has been selling Azerbaijan billions in advanced weapons that Azerbaijan is using against Armenians.

Russia has repeatedly failed to rebuke Azerbaijan for breaking the ceasefire that it agreed to two decades ago.

Russia has done nothing substantive to stop Azerbaijan’s frequent shelling of towns within Armenia itself.

In 2013, Col. Andrey Ruzinsky, commander of Russia′s 102nd military base in Armenia, said that Russia “may” not permit Azerbaijan “to restore jurisdiction over Nagorno-Karabakh by force.” Russia has yet to take any such actions.

Indeed, Russia may not care whether Azerbaijan overruns Artsakh as that, by itself, would not create a Turkish-Azeri corridor across Armenia that would threaten Russia’s position in the Caucasus.

What would Russia do if Azeri soldiers advanced into Armenia and swam in Lake Sevan? We don’t know.

More Armenian reaction needed

To their credit, Armenia’s top leaders and some MPs have expressed their dismay to Russia. As of this writing, however, Armenian citizens and diasporan organizations have been virtually silent about Russian duplicity. Twelve days after the initial Azeri assaults, there has been but one demonstration at the Russian Embassy in Yerevan. This is incomprehensible. Though Armenians do care deeply, the Kremlin may be concluding the exact opposite.

Armenians often express appreciation for and solidarity with Russia. Similar sentiments, however, are seldom returned by Russians. The popular, flashy Russian TV network, RT.com, staffed by Western and Russian journalists, rarely reports anything—especially anything positive--about Armenians. These should be warning signs to Armenians.

Some Russians and Armenians argue that their defense treaty is only with Armenia, not Artsakh. Yet Russia has not countered Azeri attacks even on Armenia itself. Does the defense pact exempt Russia from acting against Azeri attacks? We don’t know. And the belief is widespread that Russia is secretly making deals with Azerbaijan at Armenians’ expense.

True, Armenia must be extremely careful because it is highly dependent upon Russian natural gas, the Russian-controlled Metsamor nuclear power plant, advanced weapons, Russian-manned bases near the Armenian-Turkish border, and more. Yet without Armenia, Russia would ultimately be surrounded, and perhaps even destroyed, by NATO.

Armenia goes NATO, Russia goes under

Georgia and Azerbaijan are hostile to Russia, have close relations with the US and Europe, and wish to join NATO. Azerbaijan and NATO member Turkey already call themselves “one nation, two states.”

Suppose Armenia, voluntarily or otherwise, left the Russian orbit. Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia would soon be sucked into the NATO alliance. Separating the Muslim north Caucasus from the Russian Federation would become a top NATO priority.

NATO would create a Baku-based navy in the gas and oil-rich Caspian Sea. Reaching across the Caspian, NATO would link up with Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan. This is Pan-Turkism under a NATO fig-leaf.

Virtually surrounded by NATO and China, Russia would be ripe for destruction. The Kremlin may not totally understand this.

Armenians know that Soviet Russia gifted Armenian territories to Turkey and Azerbaijan in the 1920s. As Armenia once again perceives Russia as unreliable, it will naturally look elsewhere. The West has, however, historically always broken its promises to Armenians and ultimately favored Turkey. So while Armenia’s someday joining NATO might be dangerous and improbable, it’s not impossible. Russia can twist Armenia’s arm and support its adversaries only up to a point.

Russian naïveté

Russian strategy is to ingratiate itself with Azerbaijan and pull it back into the Russian orbit. Throughout the past decade, Russia has tried the same misguided strategy with Turkey.

Predictably, the Russian–Turkish love affair crashed and burned last year when Turkey shot down a Russian jet over Syria. This, declared President Putin, was the “betrayal of a friend.” Putin’s belief that President Erdogan and Turkey were truly his “friends” is breathtakingly naïve. It tells us that the Kremlin is delusional about Turkey and, by extension, its Azeri kin.

The Putin-Lavrov-Aliyev ménage à trois will culminate in a similar disaster for Russia, but not before Armenia is damaged, perhaps fatally.

Some Kremlin circles have been influenced by Aleksandr Dugin’s Eurasia Movement which espouses a grand union of Slavs/Russians and Turks.

No one, including me, is suggesting that Armenia separate itself from Russia at this time. It is impractical and unwise. But the current relationship lacks symmetry. The people of Armenia, Artsakh, and the Diaspora must not remain silent while Russia implicitly supports Azeri aggression.

Rebalancing Armenia-Russian relations

Rebalancing Armenian-Russian relations must begin with large and continuing protests against Russian betrayals, similar to the pro-Artsakh demonstrations of the late 1980s. Moscow will respect this. Moscow does not respect people who, while being kicked in the teeth by a “friend,” pretend that they’re being kissed on the lips.

Yerevan must take bigger steps towards economic and political independence from Moscow and a more evolved relationship with the West. The Armenian Diaspora could help Armenia and Artsakh immensely more if only Armenia’s leaders, including its lethargic “ambassadors,” saw diasporans as kindred spirits rather than as interlopers.

The West, too, must confess its own horrendous transgressions against Armenians. The leaders and citizens of Armenia and Artsakh must be blunt about the West’s past and present betrayals and sickening Turkophilism. Why no Armenian protests in front of Western embassies? Why the hesitation to speak the plain truth? Yet what is the West offering Armenia? Very little.

A more balanced path involves risks for Yerevan, but so does subservience to Moscow as recent events have shown.

http://hetq.am/eng/news/67324/is-russia-really-armenias-ally.html

[Sarkis86]

Re: Nagorno-Karabagh: Military Balance Between Armenia & Azerbaijan

Thoughts on the Four Day War of 2016 - Spring, 2016



It is said that the tree of liberty must be refreshed from time-to-time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. Armenia's tree of liberty was watered amply this spring. I salute those who gave their lives in the defense of our homeland with the words of Garegin Njdeh - Մահ չիմացեալ մահ է, Մահ իմացեալ՝ անմահություն: Our martyrs are now immortal and our tree of liberty has just grown a bit stronger.

Now, with that said, I would like to express additional thoughts on the four day war. I will most probably state things that will not be appreciated (or comprehended) by a vast majority of my Armenian readers. Knowing that talking to Armenians about geopolitics is like talking to a five year old child about the meaning of life (i.e. pointless), I would like to ask those of you who think that the war was a great victory for Armenia; or that this war proved that Armenia can go it alone in the south Caucasus; or that this war proved Russians are anti-Armenian backstabbers; or that Armenia now needs to seek security guarantees from the West - to please refrain from reading the rest of this commentary and just go back to your silly little fantasy world where everything is black and white; where evil doers are punished and good people are awarded; where Armenians are an invincible superpower when united; where Armenia's allies enthusiastically go out of their way to make Armenia happy all the time; and the where politics is like a street fight or a bar brawl.

What happened between April 2 and 6 in Nagorno Karabakh (Arm: Artsakh) was a short but violent war that shocked the world. The global community realized that there was yet another hot spot that could ignite a world war. Although confined to border areas of the yet unrecognized Armenian enclave, the clash between Armenian and Azeris troops saw the utilization of newly developed attack drones, special forces, combat helicopters, main battle tanks, heavy artillery and multiple rocket launchers. About one hundred Armenian lives were lost. Armenia is a small nation. Life is therefore precious for Armenians. I hope to see their deaths serve a greater purpose for the motherland. Ultimately, that purpose would be the recognition of Artskah's independence or its unification with Armenia. Not officially recognizing Artsakh's independence (or its reunification with Armenia) made political sense as long as the ceasefire was maintained between the two sides and the region avoided a war. Despite periodic ceasefire violations, Yerevan's grand plan worked for a long time. But it's not working anymore. Baku is desperate. Turkey is desperate. Western powers may be seeking to create a new hot spot on Russia's southern border. For its part, Moscow may now be ready to finally settle the festering dispute and in doing so increase its footprint in the strategic region. Yerevan needs to recognize that the status quo which worked so well for Armenia during the past twenty years is gradually coming to an end. The south Caucasus stands on the verge of a new chapter. There will be a new calculus at play. It's time for official Yerevan to formulate a new approach.

Times like this is when the quality and depth of Armenia's alliance with the Russian Bear comes to the forefront. This is why I have been calling for closer, deeper Russian-Armenian relations for over a decade.

What happened on April 02 was not or should not have been a surprise to anyone who has been observing developments in the region during the past few years. In fact, many observers were predicting this kind of an escalation by Baku. We knew Baku was violating the ceasefire all along Armenia's and Artsakh's border with Azerbaijan on a regular basis; we knew Azerbaijan was spending billions of dollars on weapons acquisitions from around the world; we knew Baku was growing increasingly desperate as a result of falling oil prices; we knew Baku's spiritual partners in Ankara were growing increasingly belligerent; we speculated that due to their defeat in Syria, anti-Russian interests in the region may attempt to bring problems closer to Russia's borders in the south Caucasus; there was increasing chatter that 2016 was to be the year when the dispute over Artsakh got resolved. In hindsight, Aliyev may have also been seeking to divert public attention from the so-called "Panama Papers". We therefore had been waiting for something like this to happen for some time now.

There are also subtle indicators that Baku's most recent aggression against Armenia was agreed to or even planned by not only Ankara but also by Western powers. The intent may have been to punish Yerevan for its close military ties with Russia and, as noted above, to divert Moscow's attention from Syria. After all, there had been a flurry of anti-Armenian and anti-Russian rhetoric coming out of Western capitols in recent months, and the tiny country called Armenia was being described as a threat to NATO. I personally think that the seeds of this most recent bloodletting in the south Caucasus can be found in the contents of the following articles -

U.S. Intelligence Chief Warns Of Karabakh Escalation: http://asbarez.com/145845/u-s-intell...kh-escalation/

Alexey Martynov: «Whom is scaring US intelligence by Karabakh war?: http://rusarminfo.ru/alexey-martynov...-karabakh-war/

Is Armenia the Next Turkish-Russian Flashpoint?: http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/p...ian-flashpoint

Radio Liberty: Experts Cast Doubt On Yerevan's Claims Over Nagorno-Karabakh:http://www.rferl.org/content/armenia.../27656532.html

Turkey’s Lobbyists Seek U.S. Help By Calling Tiny Armenia A Big Threat: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/...b0a06d58054b16

Security Ties With Russia Reinforce Armenia’s Regional Isolation: http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/t...onal-isolation

Russia's Staging Bases in Armenia: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/armine..._9339046.html?

US Ambassador: Putin's Newest Satellite State: Armenia: http://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin.../#155181443549

The Russia-Armenia alliance is threatening Turkey, a critical U.S. ally: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opini...5f6_story.html

Amanda Paul: Russia and the militarization of the South Caucasus: http://www.todayszaman.com/columnist...us_393399.html

Putin just sent Armenia MiG-29 fighters and military aid. Here are three key reasons why: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...y-reasons-why/

We therefore knew Baku, Ankara and Washington were conspiring and all three conspirators were in Washington the week before the Azeri offensive against Artsakh. Merely two days before Azerbaijan's military incursion into Artsakh, Kerry and Aliyev had a meeting at the US State Department with the quite noticeable absence of President Sargsyan who was also in Washington at the time -

Secretary Kerry Meets with President Aliyev of Azerbaijan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pFp0BJvKr8

Russian experts on Aliyev-Kerry meeting in absence of Sargsyan: http://rusarminfo.ru/russian-experts...e-of-sargsyan/

However, because Russian officials were perceived to be somewhat silent and a lot of the military hardware Azeris utilized in their assault were Russian made (although their Israeli made weapons seemed to have made a greater impact on the battlefield), Western-financed mercenaries and Soros-funded organizations like Lragir and Founding Parliament (and the rest of the Western-led political opposition in Armenia) have begun a campaign to convince Armenians that Russia was behind this most recent assault against Armenian of Artsakh. And encouraged by President Sargsyan's ill-advised criticism of Moscow's arms sales to Baku - done from Western-occupied Germany nonetheless - the anti-Russian hysteria has reached new heights in Armenia. Russia is now being accused of blatantly taking sides against Armenia. Russia is now being accused of backstabbing Armenia. They are also screaming, "Russians stopped the Armenian counteroffensive to save Azerbaijan!" Needless to say, had Russians not stopped the fighting, they would have been screaming, "Russians allowed the fighting to continue so that more Armenians would die!" There is no winning with them. They have an agenda to push after all. Professional Russophobes embedded inside Armenian society are behind all this. Speaking of professional Russophobes, please listen to the words of Igor Muradyan, one of Armenia's top Western agents today -

Ռուսաստանը վերմակն իր վրա է փորձում քաշել և միայնակ զբաղվել ԼՂ հակամարտությամբ: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38DL_tTaVDU

Agent Muradyan, much like his ideological partner Gary Kasparov, claims Russia is a defeated nation; claims Russia is a dangerous aggressor nation; claims Russia does not have the power to negotiate anything anymore; and claims Russia can no longer keep its promises about not allowing a war to happen in Artsakh. Agent Muradyan goes on to make the outrageous claim that Turkey is only interest in the region is peace and that the region's only problem is Russia. In my opinion, agent Muradyan's attempt to convince Armenians that Russia and not Turkey was behind Azerbaijan's aggression actually suggests that Baku's aggression was indeed ordered by anti-Russian interests. In my opinion, agent Murdyan's words are evidence that Azerbaijan's latest aggression against Armenia was a test not only for Armenia but also for the Russian Federation. Nevertheless, Western mercenaries will now do all they can, including the dissemination of false news, to make Moscow look like an accomplice in Baku's aggression against Armenia in an ultimate attempt to lead our naive sheeple to the slaughterhouse once more.

The hysteria being whipped up inside Armenia has gotten unprecedented numbers people thinking Russia has back-stabbed Armenia and some are now even shouting Ռուսաստան սիկտիր (Translated: Russia get the f#@k out). Yes, Armenians are telling Russians to get the f#@k out, in Turkish nonetheless. Ok, let's say Russians obliged and shutdown their army base in Gyumri and air force base in Yerevan and indeed got the f#@k out... but continued to sell weaponry to Azerbaijan but stopped providing weaponry to Armenia, and maybe even decided that Armenians can do without cheep Russian natural gas and benzine. And since Russia did not have an Armenian ally in the region anymore, it simply decided that the best way to keep the region in control was to embroil it in a perpetual state of inter-ethnic war. Then what?! What's going to deter Turks from venturing into Armenia? Who is going to pay the billions of dollars for the weaponry and training Armenia will need to keep the military balance with Azerbaijan? How about the already near-dead Armenian economy? Who is going to put up the money to operate Armenia's national infrastructure? How about the hundreds-of-thousands of Armenian citizens that make their living in Russia? Do these people shouting stupid slogans realize that Armenia is located in southern Caucasus, or do they think they are living in southern California? How stupid are these f#@king people?! Shouting, "stop selling weapons to Baku" is one thing, but "Russia get the f#@k out"?!?!?! It makes no sense. What these people are doing isn't political activism, it isn't a protest, it's sheer madness. It's actually psychotic/suicidal behavior. They are probably too stupid to know it but they are actually advancing an old Turkish plan. Getting Russians to leave Armenia is actually a Western and Turkish political agenda -

George Friedman: “Russian presence in Armenia is bad for Turkey”: http://theriseofrussia. blogspot.com/2010/11/arye-gut- israeli-jewish-expert-in.html

Turkish Advice: Armenian diaspora, focus on Russia rather than Turkey! http://www.hurriyetdailynews. com/armenian-diaspora-focus- on-russia-rather-than-turkey

Russian General Leonid Ivashov: Turkey Seeks Separation Between Russia and Armenia: http://news.am/eng/news/36696. html

USA trying to break up Armenian-Russian military relations, general says: http://www.eurasianet.org/ resource/a...0005/0040.html

Westerners and Turks know (obviously a lot better than some Armenians) that Armenia simply can't survive without Russia. They know that once Russia is forced out of Armenia, Armenia will be fully at their mercy. This is essentially why all kinds of politicians, activists and news agencies are tasked by Western powers to disseminate anti-Russian rhetoric throughout Armenian society. Due to unique Armenian traits (that are also better recognized by Armenia's enemies), Armenians are proving very susceptible to manipulation and self-destructive behavior. There might be yet another factor. I hate to say this, but the recent battlefield victory we had may have given our idiots in Yerevan a false sense of security and illusions of grandeur. Again I see the cat looking in the mirror and seeing a lion. This cat better not go out to play in the wild without the accompaniment of the bear. If Armenians insist on acting psychotic and continue playing with the life of the republic, I would much rather Armenia become a province within the Russian federation. Times like this remind me that Armenians may not be ready for nationhood.

A few additional words about today's Western-funded anti-Russian community: It is quite common to hear from them that serious changes will be taking place in the world in the next ten years or so and that Russia will be destroyed in the end. Like brain-dead members of an evil cult, our professional Russophobes are convinced of it. They claim therefore to want to save Armenia by making Yerevan break its ties with Moscow . . . .

Read the rest at:

http://theriseofrussia.blogspot.com/...016-april.html

[burjuin]

Re: Nagorno-Karabagh: Military Balance Between Armenia & Azerbaijan

Գաղտնազերծվել է ադրբեջանական խոցված ուղղաթիռի սեւ արկղի ինֆորմացիան:

[armnuke]

Re: Nagorno-Karabagh: Military Balance Between Armenia & Azerbaijan

[armnuke]

Re: Nagorno-Karabagh: Military Balance Between Armenia & Azerbaijan

European Parliament adopts stern resolution urging Turkey to establish diplomatic ties with Armenia

YEREVAN, April 15. /ARKA/. The European Parliament adopted Thursday a stern resolution on Turkey by a majority of votes – 375 voted for it and 177 were against.

In its resolution, the European Parliament urges Turkey and Armenia to normalize their relations without preconditions and to establish diplomatic ties.

It also points out the necessity of opening Armenia-Turkey border to improve relations between the two countries.

The document contains an allusion to the European Parliament's resolution dated from April 15, 2015, which urges Ankara to recognize the fact of the Armenian Genocide committed in Ottoman Empire in 1915.

The resolution also accuses Ankara of “backsliding” on democracy and the rule of law.
EU-Turkey cooperation on migration should be uncoupled from the EU accession negotiating process, members of the European Parliament say in the resolution.

They call for progress on rule of law and fundamental values and "a structured and more frequent political dialogue on key thematic issues". ---0---


10:57 15.04.2016

http://arka.am/en/news/politics/european_parliament_adopts_stern_resolution_urging_turkey_to_establish_diplomatic_ties_with_armenia_/

[burjuin]

Re: Nagorno-Karabagh: Military Balance Between Armenia & Azerbaijan

[Sarkis86]

Re: Nagorno-Karabagh: Military Balance Between Armenia & Azerbaijan

Read the rest at:

http://theriseofrussia.blogspot.com/...016-april.html

Highlights:

Once more I implore you to think: If Russia was to stop selling arms to Baku, it would essentially be a symbolic measure because Baku can get modern arms elsewhere. Azeri money will go to Turkey, Israel, Ukraine, Pakistan, China and Western powers and Azerbaijan may turn into a major base of operations for Turks, Islamists and Westerners. Will that be better for the region? Will that be better for Armenia and Artsakh? Moscow knows that pan-Turkism and Islamic extremism have been Western power tools for a long time. Moscow knows that Western powers have used and continue using pan-Turkism and Islamic extremism against the Russian nation. Moscow is therefore doing its best to stay in the game in Azerbaijan essentially because it realizes that if it breaks its relations with Baku, Azerbaijan is highly susceptible to turning into a center of pan-Turkic and Islamic activities. Yes, we all know that American, British and Israeli interests already exist in Baku. We also know that Grey Wolves and ISIS also operates inside Azerbaijan. But the aforementioned are not espoused officially and they are not yet mainstream. Without Russia in the picture in Baku, Azerbaijan has the strong potential to become hotbed of pan-Turkism and Islamic extremism. Azeri officials in fact use these factors in Azerbaijan as a threat to make Russians remain closely engaged with Baku.

At the end of the day, Russia remains Armenia's one and only ally and Russia is the only nation on earth that would militarily intervene to save Armenia from being runover by Turks or Islamists. Armenians therefore need to stop seeing the world in black and white terms; Armenians need to stop listening to and believing what Western propaganda says; Armenians need to stop being maximalistic in their desires; Armenians need to better assess their capabilities; Armenians need to better understand the game of politics and how its played; Armenians need to control their emotions; and Armenians need to stop thinking only in the short-term and start developing foresight.

Moscow is neither an angel or a demon - Moscow is a superpower. Superpowers tend to formulate geostrategy and implement them cautiously, systematically and professionally.

Moscow behavior in places like Ukraine, Syria and Armenia, is not stupid, duplicitous or backstabbing. Moscow behavior is superpower behavior. Russia is a nation that borders Europe, the Caucasus, central Asia, east Asia and all of the Arctic. Russia is a massive nuclear power. Russian officials, like their American counterparts, tend to see things on a grander scale. Moscow has to have a grand view of the world. Russians officials have centuries of diplomatic expertise and have cultivated impeccable foresight when it comes to geostrategy. Russians have also suffered calamitous wars all too often. Therefore, the execution of Russian politics is by nature cautious, calculating, systematic and meticulous. In short: Russia is a superpower. Moscow therefore thinks as a superpower.

Armenians also better take a good look at Cypriots, Serbians, Ukrainians, Kurds and Georgians to name only a few and realize that the West can never-ever be a security guarantee for Armenia. When it comes to matters pertaining to its national security, Armenia's only option is to firmly maintain its strategic alliance with Russia; better understand the geopolitical calculus of the region; and be better prepared militarily for a worst case scenario. Yet, due to our people's political illiteracy we are constantly getting distracted and mislead by our enemies. Speaking of Western psy-ops targeted at Armenians, take a look at the following two articles. One is by the CIA-affiliated Stratfor and the other is by Soros-funded Open Democracy. One is trying to drive a wedge between Moscow and Yerevan, the other is trying to foment a color revolution in Yerevan. Their rhetoric sounds exactly like what our Western activists in Armenia say all the time -
Armenia's Fair-Weather Allies: https://www.stratfor.com/geopolitica...weather-allies
Why Armenians are successful everywhere except Armenia: https://www.opendemocracy.net/can-eu...except-armenia
This is Western psy-ops at its worst. The premise of both articles are based on lies and half-truths. The truth is that the CSTO (and we are primarily talking about Russia here) is under treaty to come to Armenia's aid and not Artsakh's, and even then only after Yerevan officially requests it. But I have no doubt that Moscow would also militarily intervene if Artsakh was seriously threatened. They have even hinted as such. Please note that the most recent Azeri incursion into Artsakh was not an attempt by Baku to "restore jurisdiction" over Stepanakert. What happened was not a full-scale war and Artsakh was never in serious danger.Azerbaijan is simply not large enough or militarily powerful enough to actually threaten Armenia or Artsakh. Yerevan has never felt the need to ask for military intervention by Russia. Moreover, by covering Armenia's western border with Turkey, Moscow provides Yerevan with the freedom to concentrate its limited resources on keeping Azerbaijan in check on Armenia's eastern borders. What happened April 02, 2016 was a test or even a warning but not a full scale war. The following is a very recent Armenian language article that talks about CSTO's actual responsibilities -
ՀԱՊԿ–ն կարձագանքի, եթե Հայաստանը դիմի: http://sputnik.co.am/armenia/20160402/2698538.html
People working at places like Stratfor and Armenia's Western activists always fail to ask: How did Artsakh, a tiny piece of territory that has no real economy to speak of, come to acquire so much weaponry in the first place? Is it because of the military assistance an economically depressed and cash broke Armenia provides, or is it a result of cheep (often free) Russian arms supplies to Armenia slowly trickling down to Artsakh? A lot of the weaponry that Russia has provided Armenia throughout the years has gone to Artsakh, with Moscow's knowledge. That's a fact. Also, why can't the people at Stratfor and Armenia's Western activists just say, Russia is covering Armenia's western border with Turkey so that Yerevan can concentrate all its resources on a more manageable threat coming from Azerbaijan?

[gokorik]

Re: Nagorno-Karabagh: Military Balance Between Armenia & Azerbaijan

Here's some more highlights....

Ultimately, the territorial future of Artsakh (what territories we keep, what territories we give in exchange for peace) is up to Armenian officials to help decide. Russians are macromanaging the situation in the south Caucasus. The micromanagement that needs to take place in Artsakh is ultimately an Armenian responsibility. Moscow's primary concern is keeping both Armenia and Baku within its orbit, details, such as how borders should be drawn in Artsakh, are of secondaryximportance to the Kremlin.

Although I agree with almost all of his points I'm still puzzled to see this author advocating we give land back forn"peace". The turks would just take that land and instigate another conflict. That territory "we give" is a buffer that gives our military time to mobilise. Such good points but this statement shxts on all his other good points... It is clear there is no point of negotiating with Baku PERIOD!