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Warning Armenia anew, Azerbaijani president vows to strengthen military
forces
AIDA SULTANOVA, AP Worldstream
Published: Jun 22, 2007
Azerbaijan's president declared Friday the country was in a "state of
war" and pledged continuing increases in military spending to put
pressure on Armenia in the two countries' territorial dispute.
"Military expenditures are now the priority. Azerbaijan is in a state
of war and therefore military expenditures will increase yet further,"
said Ilham Aliev.
In an address to officers graduating from a Baku military school, Aliev
said the country's military budget had quadrupled in the past four
years and would reach US$1 billion (A740 million) this year.
Exports from the country's vast Caspian Sea oil and gas reserves have
helped lift Azerbaijan's economy since the Soviet collapse, and
propelled an aggressive upgrade of its armed forces.
Tensions are high between Azerbaijan and Armenia, two South Caucasus
regions that saw a six-year conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, a region
that is inside Azerbaijan but has been controlled by ethnic Armenian
forces since a 1994 cease-fire. Some 30,000 people were killed and more
than 1 million driven from their homes.
International mediators have repeatedly sought to get the two countries
to resolve the dispute, which has held up development in the strategic
region.
"We should move to an offensive in all directions: political,
diplomatic, economic and propagandistic. We do not want a military
resolution to the conflict, but we should be ready for it. The
negotiation process cannot continue forever," he said.
"The Armenian leadership should find the political will and vacate the
lands that don't belong to them and then move toward peace."
Azerbaijan would never agree to the separation of Nagorno-Karabakh or
its union with Armenia and he accused Armenia of "artificially drawing
out the negotiating process, which has involved mediators from the
United States, Russia and France.
In Armenia, Foreign Ministry spokesman Vladimir Karapetian dismissed
Aliev's comments as rhetoric.
"This is not the first time that President Aliev has made such loud
statements. Nothing ever happens after these (statements)," Karapetian
said.
Aliev also said Azerbaijan, would soon have the capability to
manufacture its own military hardware _ possibly by year's end.
forces
AIDA SULTANOVA, AP Worldstream
Published: Jun 22, 2007
Azerbaijan's president declared Friday the country was in a "state of
war" and pledged continuing increases in military spending to put
pressure on Armenia in the two countries' territorial dispute.
"Military expenditures are now the priority. Azerbaijan is in a state
of war and therefore military expenditures will increase yet further,"
said Ilham Aliev.
In an address to officers graduating from a Baku military school, Aliev
said the country's military budget had quadrupled in the past four
years and would reach US$1 billion (A740 million) this year.
Exports from the country's vast Caspian Sea oil and gas reserves have
helped lift Azerbaijan's economy since the Soviet collapse, and
propelled an aggressive upgrade of its armed forces.
Tensions are high between Azerbaijan and Armenia, two South Caucasus
regions that saw a six-year conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, a region
that is inside Azerbaijan but has been controlled by ethnic Armenian
forces since a 1994 cease-fire. Some 30,000 people were killed and more
than 1 million driven from their homes.
International mediators have repeatedly sought to get the two countries
to resolve the dispute, which has held up development in the strategic
region.
"We should move to an offensive in all directions: political,
diplomatic, economic and propagandistic. We do not want a military
resolution to the conflict, but we should be ready for it. The
negotiation process cannot continue forever," he said.
"The Armenian leadership should find the political will and vacate the
lands that don't belong to them and then move toward peace."
Azerbaijan would never agree to the separation of Nagorno-Karabakh or
its union with Armenia and he accused Armenia of "artificially drawing
out the negotiating process, which has involved mediators from the
United States, Russia and France.
In Armenia, Foreign Ministry spokesman Vladimir Karapetian dismissed
Aliev's comments as rhetoric.
"This is not the first time that President Aliev has made such loud
statements. Nothing ever happens after these (statements)," Karapetian
said.
Aliev also said Azerbaijan, would soon have the capability to
manufacture its own military hardware _ possibly by year's end.