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Armenian defence minister justifies dispatch of troops to Iraq

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  • Armenian defence minister justifies dispatch of troops to Iraq

    Armenian defence minister justifies dispatch of troops to Iraq

    Hayots Ashkarh, Yerevan
    9 Dec 04


    Excerpt from Vaan Vardanyan's report by Armenian newspaper Hayots
    Ashkarh on 9 December headlined "Armenia has no right to stay out of
    this process"

    An interview with Defence Minister Serzh Sarkisyan.

    [Hayots Ashkarh correspondent] Mr Sarkisyan, the Constitutional Court
    has adopted a positive decision on sending troops to Iraq. When will
    it be submitted to the National Assembly for ratification?

    [Serzh Sarkisyan] It does not depend on me. There is a regulation
    according to which the president of the country sends a bill to the
    parliament for ratification. I think this will happen soon.

    [Correspondent] Are you sure that the National Assembly will ratify
    it?

    [Sarkisyan] Nothing can be guaranteed. But I think that a great
    majority in the parliament are people who stand for our national
    interests and they will not make a negative decision.

    [Correspondent] But Ukraine wants to withdraw its 1,500-strong
    military contingent from Iraq, but it does not have money for
    that. There is a similar mood in Britain as well. That is, some
    countries seem to have changed their mind on sending troops to
    Iraq. Is it correct that Armenia is going to send its military
    contingent to Iraq?

    [Sarkisyan] First, how do you know that they have changed their mind?
    Second, at the time these countries sent troops to Iraq, the situation
    was no better than today. That is, one should conclude that the
    existing situation in Iraq is not the reason for this mood. In that
    case we do not have the right to be guided by other countries'
    interests.

    [Passage omitted: Sarkisyan says how many countries and in what way
    take part in Iraq's restoration]

    We have no right to be sidelined from this process.

    [Correspondent] Is Kazakhstan's military contingent in Iraq a
    supporting force?

    [Sarkisyan] Yes, it is. Just the same way as in our case. Today I
    mentioned in the Constitutional Court that in case of joining the
    relevant memorandum we shall mention reservations that should be
    applied to our contingent. They are different. For instance, our
    contingent may only take part in defence and humanitarian
    actions. Moreover, we cannot take part in any actions together with
    the Azerbaijani units.

    [Correspondent] Moreover, our contingent may not be deployed in the
    same place with the Azerbaijanis.

    [Sarkisyan] Certainly. We have chosen in advance where our contingent
    will be deployed in case of going to Iraq.

    [Correspondent] There are opinions that if the contingent is
    dispatched to Iraq, in this way Armenia will stress that it is
    pro-Western, shrugging off Russia.

    [Sarkisyan] This is not so. Those who think so are not aware of the
    processes taking place in the world. They simply try to impose their
    view on other people. If they learn the list of the countries that
    help restoration of Iraq, they will see that Russia is among them as
    well. Why do these people try to make any action look like
    contradicting Russia or the USA? I am sure that such approaches will
    not benefit our country.

    [Correspondent] People worry that by this step we may put at risk our
    Armenian community of Iraq.

    [Sarkisyan] This is why we approach this problem very seriously. But I
    can ask: if we do not send our contingent to Iraq, does it mean that
    their attitude towards our community will be better? Everybody knows
    that the first church blown up in Iraq was an Armenian one. That
    happened when there was no word in Armenia about joining the
    coalition. I simply see no connection, though different ways out are
    possible. But I am absolutely sure that if Armenia does not join in
    and stay out of this process, which involves 94 countries of the
    world, it will be simply unclear.
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