David Jamalyan: Azerbaijan trying to justify huge defense expensesOctober 11, 2010 - 14:23 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenia and Iran are enjoying good political relations, although economic ties need to be strengthened, an Armenian expert said. “Due to the blockade imposed by Azerbaijan and Turkey, Iran has a strategic importance for Armenia,” Yervand Bozoyan told a news conference in Yerevan on October 11. For his part, military expert at the Armenian Public Council, David Jamalyan, noted that construction of Iran-Armenia railroad will let Armenia withstand the Turkish and Azerbaijani pressure and take a stronger hold on the Karabakh issue. As to the killing of Armenian captive Manvel Saribekyan, he said Baku just tries to justify huge defense expenses. “Azerbaijan wants show it has a strong army,” Jamalyan said. Commenting on the incident , Bozoyan for his part said Armenia failed to react to the murder properly. “The reaction must have been tougher to reach the international community,” he said. “Should a similar incident take place in Armenia, the OSCE Minsk Group, under pressure of Azerbaijan, could even send a note to Yerevan.” 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 | Putin congratulates Pashinyan’s birthday Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on his birthday on June 1. Opposition motorcade en route to Gyumri for large rally A motorcade of protesters headed by Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan is heading to the city of Gyumri. Russia: Armenia’s frozen membership weakens CSTO position in Caucasus A Russian envoy said any step that could alienate the CSTO member states from each other is “deeply wrong”. Prosecutors to appeal Armenia ex-President’s acquittal Sargsyan was acquitted on Friday, May 31 more than four years after going on trial on corruption charges. |