Military expert calls for continuing reforms in defense sphere of ArmeniaApril 1, 2009 - 16:33 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - ''August war in Georgia altered the balance of military forces in South Caucasus. It demonstrated Moscow's power of influence in the region, solved two suspended conflicts in the Caucasus, proved it's premature for Georgia to seek NATO membership and West's disinterestedness in Tbilisi, Armenian Center for National and International Studies (ACNIS) Director Richard Giragosian stated in his report entitled "Balance of Military Forces in South Caucasus".Considering the circumstances, the official Yerevan should take a serious attitude towards national security in Armenian and NKR. Armament drive and militarization of the region were launched after the war in South Ossetia. Since 2004 Azerbaijan has been increasing military budget volumes, inducing Armenia to correspond. Georgia's experience taught a good lesson to Caucasian states, showing ineffectiveness of military solution in the region. According to expert, Armenia and NKR possess the most efficient armed forces in the region and low corruption level in defense sphere as compared to Azerbaijan. As for Azerbaijan, Even if Azeri Ministry of Defense undertook reforms tomorrow, they'll need 8 years at the least to eliminate corruption and other faults in Azeri Armed Forces. Still, considering militarization of the whole region, Armenia should continue with reforms in defense sphere and undertake specific steps to develop democracy and economy in the country to balance its military forces in the region. Top stories President of the Armenian parliament Alen Simonyan met with the Speaker of the Azerbaijani Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova. Achieving stable peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan remains a priority of the OSCE, said Ian Borg. The Cabinet of Ministers decided on Thursday, November 9 to allocated AMD 120 million to arrange the gathering. Michael Roth believes sanctions must be put on the table after Baku‘s ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh. Partner news | U.S. “deeply troubled” by Azerbaijan's arrest of civil society members The United States is deeply troubled by the continued arrest of members of Azerbaijani civil society, Matthew Miller has said. Turkey condemns Uruguay’s recognition of Armenian Genocide Turkey has condemned a newly passed law in Uruguay that recognizes the Armenian Genocide, TRT reports. For the first time, Armenia votes in favor of Georgia resolution in UN Armenia on Tuesday, June 4 voted for the first time in favor a resolution adopted by the United Nations General Assembly. Moscow warns Armenia against leaving Russian-led defense bloc Armenia could ruin its military ties with Russia if it continues drifting towards the West, according to a senior official in Moscow. |