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BAKU: Azerbaijan increases military spending by over 34m dollars

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  • BAKU: Azerbaijan increases military spending by over 34m dollars

    Azerbaijan increases military spending by over 34m dollars

    ANS TV, Baku
    30 Jun 04


    [Presenter] Azerbaijan, which is at war with Armenia, has increased
    its military spending.

    [Correspondent over video of marching soldiers] Another step has been
    taken to strengthen the national army. According to changes in the
    2004 budget, 171bn manats [34.9m dollars] will be allocated for
    defence expenditure. This pertains to the strengthening of the
    Azerbaijani Defence Ministry's material and technical base, to the
    development of the military and industrial complex and to the payrise
    for servicemen.

    [Azerbaijani Finance Minister Avaz Alakbarov, speaking at a news
    conference] This makes up 2.3 per cent of the GDP. It's not a large
    figure. One should make strong efforts to find 171bn manats and
    finance something. Therefore, I think the president's step is very
    necessary and timely.

    [Passage omitted: financial details]

    [Correspondent] To recap, a lot of attention is being paid to military
    cooperation during the Azerbaijani president's visits abroad.

    [Passage omitted: documents signed in the military sphere during
    Aliyev's recent visits to Uzbekistan, Ukraine and Turkey]

    [Correspondent] It is no coincidence that these measures and
    statements on the liberation of the occupied lands in a military way
    have caused some concern in Armenia. For instance, reports by
    Armenia's Regnum [as heard] news agency allow us to say that the
    Armenians are unable to fight a war. They are trying to conceal this
    with the opinion that the Azerbaijani army is weak. Such an opinion by
    the Armenians seems to be absurd if we take into account that Armenia
    and Azerbaijan allocated 86m and 147m dollars respectively for
    military spending in their 2004 state budgets and that Azerbaijan has
    now added 34m dollars to the this amount.

    According to military experts, it's impossible to establish a strong
    army with Armenia's weak economy. The Armenian army's material and
    technical base cannot withstand competition with Azerbaijan in this
    sphere.

    Zamina Aliyeva, Anar Cabrayilli and Elxan Huseynov, ANS.
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