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Armenia ready to counter Azerbaijan if need be

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  • Armenia ready to counter Azerbaijan if need be

    Armenia ready to counter Azerbaijan if need be

    01.10.2004

    Yerevan. (Interfax-AVN) - Armenia does not want to resume military
    operations against Azerbaijan, Armenian Defense Minister Serzh
    Sarkisian has told Armenian Public Television.

    "Armenia will declare war only if attacked by Azerbaijan. However, if
    it is the case, Azerbaijan will be repulsed so as not to even mention
    the war again for years to come," he emphasized.

    Azerbaijani authorities have recently repeatedly stated the
    possibility of resuming military operations against Armenia to settle
    the Nagorno-Karabakh crisis, if peaceful negotiations do not yield any
    results.

    "The aftermath of the war will be heavy for both sides," the Armenian
    defense minister said.

    "Given the most favorable outcome of the war for Armenia, we do not
    wish to resume military operations, since a war always results in
    human casualties. Even if the losses ratio equaled 1:7, as was the
    case in 1993-1994, we would not be willing to start a war," Sarkisian
    pointed out.

    In addition to that, in wartime the sides will have to spend their
    limited resources on solving military problems, he noted.

    At the same time he emphasized that the Armenian Armed Forces were the
    most combat ready force in Transcaucasia.

    Sarkisian also said that NATO's decision to cancel the military
    exercise in Azerbaijan, slated for mid-September, due to the fact that
    Armenian officers were not allowed to participate in it, had not been
    a surprise to him.

    At the same time he said that Armenia was interested in Azerbaijan's
    participation in the NATO-sponsored Partnership for Peace
    program. "Azerbaijan's participation in this program imposes certain
    commitments on Baku, and we will be better off dealing with
    Azerbaijan, committed to its promises," he pointed out.
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