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Nagorno-Karabagh: Military Balance Between Armenia & Azerbaijan
Re: Nagorno-Karabagh: Military Balance Between Armenia & Azerbaijan
Bryza actually recognizes international community’s inability to guarantee NKR people’s security
13.08.2009 19:53 GMT+04:00 Print version Send to mail
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ “By his statement, US Co-Chair Matthew Bryza actually recognized that international community is unable to fully guarantee NKR people’s security, as peacekeeping forces are one of international conflict management tools in international community’s arsenal of supporting peace in conflict regions,” Head of NKR Foreign Ministry’s Information Department Marcelle Petrosyan said, commenting upon Matthew Bryza’s statement that peacekeepers in Karabakh conflict zone were not armed and could not have forced peace, since they acted as observers.
“However, US Co-Chair proposes that Azerbaijani-Kharabakh conflict be resolved through appeasing the aggressor, i.e. Azerbaijan. History shows that such policy never contributes to peace. On the contrary, it leads to escalated tension and war,” NKR official added.
Re: Nagorno-Karabagh: Military Balance Between Armenia & Azerbaijan
NKR: Unreasonable speedup may escalate tensions in Karabakh
13.08.2009 19:08 GMT+04:00 Print version Send to mail
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ “Speedy settlement of Karabakh-Azerbaijani conflict is also a priority for Karabakh,” Head of NKR Foreign Ministry’s Information Department Marsel Petrosian, said commenting upon MG Co-Chair Matthew Bryza’s recent statement that speedy settlement is advantageous to Armenia as “otherwise, the country’s economic development will be hampered, creating serious problems in democratic reform process.” “But that doesn’t mean we favor a settlement at any cost, with unpredictable consequences at that. For us, settlement implies establishment of long and enduring peace which can be achieved only in case of considering the actual state of things,” Petrosian noted.
“However, Mr. Bryza links conflict settlement to economic development and democratic reforms. Linking these two issues into a single “package” is more like a bargaining and attempt to impose an agreement at all costs. Unfortunately, we recently observe the tendency of speeding up negotiation process based on a formula which ignores the essence and history of the conflict, as well as the present-day realities. In our view, Mr. Bryza`s statements are in line with that tendency. There is an impression that the current haste is related to the replacement of MG co-chairs, particularly Mr. Bryza. In NKR Foreign Ministry’s statement dated July 15, 2009, we already spoke about the negative impact of unreasonable speedup which may only escalate tension, as the formula proposed by mediators is aimed at changing the balance of power underlying peace and stability in the region,” NKR official stated.
Commenting upon MG Co-Chair’s statement that negotiation process reflects NKR “population’s” opinion and concerns, Petrosian said, “We’d welcome such fact, and in that connection, we’d like to note that NKR people have expressed their will at December 10, 1991 independence referendum and December 10, 2006 Constitutional referendum. “We’d be thankful to mediators if NKR people’s will is fully reflected in negotiation process.”
Re: Nagorno-Karabagh: Military Balance Between Armenia & Azerbaijan
7% population loss in Armenia by 2050
Population Reference Bureau (PRB) reports natural population loss to make 7% in Armenia by 2050. In Georgia and Ukraine the loss will make 28%, whereas in Azerbaijan – 34%, Swaziland and Bulgaria – 33% and 35% respectively.
Japan is rated 6th, Moldova – 7th with decrease in population by 25% and 23% correspondingly. In Belarus, Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina the population loss is estimated at 20%, in Serbia – 21%.
Population size in Russia by 2050 will decrease to 110.1 million. According to PRB, population size in Russia by mid 2008 totaled 141.9 million.
Population Reference Bureau (PRB) reports natural population loss to make 7% in Armenia by 2050. In Georgia and Ukraine the loss will make 28%, whereas in Azerbaijan – 34%, Swaziland and Bulgaria – 33% and 35% respectively.
Japan is rated 6th, Moldova – 7th with decrease in population by 25% and 23% correspondingly. In Belarus, Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina the population loss is estimated at 20%, in Serbia – 21%.
Population size in Russia by 2050 will decrease to 110.1 million. According to PRB, population size in Russia by mid 2008 totaled 141.9 million.
Re: Nagorno-Karabagh: Military Balance Between Armenia & Azerbaijan
Armenian Troops Hold ‘Peacekeeping’ Drills
Hundreds of Armenian troops began on Wednesday one-week military exercises which officials said are aimed at testing and improving their ability to participate in international peacekeeping operations.
Among the 900 or so participants are not only members of a special peacekeeping brigade of Armenia’s Armed Forces but also army commandos backed by helicopter gunships. They are simulating military intervention in clashes between hostile civilian populations in an imaginary conflict zone.
The scenario of the exercises, conducted at the Marshal Bagramian military training ground 40 kilometers west of Yerevan, also involves the setting up of a security “buffer zone” and checkpoints. Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian was present at the opening of the drills, the first of their kind ever held in Armenia, along with top army generals and foreign monitors, including from NATO member states.
“Such war games are aimed at developing our peacekeepers’ practical skills,” Colonel Artur Stepanian, commander of the brigade, was quoted by Armenian Public Radio as saying. “Their capabilities, knowledge and potential are being tested in practice.”
Stepanian said that is necessary for Armenia’s continued participation in Western-led peacekeeping missions in Kosovo and other “hot spots.” Yerevan doubled the number of Armenian soldiers serving in Kosovo to 70 before withdrawing its similarly small military contingent from Iraq last year.
It is also expected to send troops to Afghanistan in the months ahead. The Associated Press news agency quoted unnamed officials in Yerevan as saying last month that they will comprise munitions experts and communication officers and serve there under German command.
The Armenian peacekeeping unit was set up in 2001 with financial and technical assistance provided by the United States and other NATO member states. The U.S. military alone has supplied it with at least $6 million worth of equipment.
The volunteer unit currently consists of two battalions, one of them formed in 2008. It is due to become a full-fledged army brigade by 2015 in accordance with Armenia’s Individual Partnership Action Plan with NATO.
Hundreds of Armenian troops began on Wednesday one-week military exercises which officials said are aimed at testing and improving their ability to participate in international peacekeeping operations.
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