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Russian-Azerbaijani arms trade ‘potentially explosive’ for region – Armenian military expert

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Russia’s continuing weapons sale to Azerbaijan appears to be the major wrinkle in the country’s developing strategic alliance with Armenia, , a Yerevan-based military expert said Saturday, warning of serious hazards to regional security.

In an interview with Tert.am, David Jamalyan dismissed the allegations that the double dealing aims to maintain balance between Armenia and Azerbaijan against the backdrop of the unsettled Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.  He described the argument, repeatedly cited by the Russian authorities, as a cynical justification potentially creating an explosive situation in the region.

“I don’t think the supply of Russian armament is limited to business interests only. That’s true certainly but is of secondary importance. It is rather a desperate step to make Azerbaijan dependent upon Russia, as a weapons supply deal implies also an ongoing and lasting dialogue with the supplier. Seeing Azerbaijan’s resolute efforts towards distancing itself from the Russian zone of influence, our partners [in Russia] are now trying to make them bound in this way,” he noted.

Jamalyan also highlighted Azerbaijan’s dependence upon Turkey as a Turkic state. “Their dependence on Turkey in very different areas is too deep to isolate [the two countries] from each other,” he noted.

In that context, the expert described the Russian policies as a way of encouraging the the Azerbaijani authorities’ bellicose ambitions. “Being a supporter of the Russian-Armenian alliance, I consider those comments simply cynical. Russia’s justifications sound really very absurd as we do not have any aggressive ambitions. It is Azerbaijan that pursues aggressive ambitions in essence. Hence any supply of weapons to Azerbaijan implies encouraging those ambitions, and contributing to an increased tension,” Jamalyan added.

Syrian Christian Leader Tells West: ‘Stop Arming Terror Groups Who Are Massacring Our People’

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Middle-east christiansIn a July interview, The Patriarch of Antioch, Moran Mor Ignatius Aphrem II, called on the West to “stop arming and supporting terrorist groups that are destroying our countries and massacring our people.” The Syrian Christian leader added that “state institutions need to be strengthened and stabilised. Instead, what we see is their forced dismemberment being fuelled from the outside.”

The Patriarch also recounted a meeting he had with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad:

Along with bishops of his church he recently had talks with President Assad of Syria. “President Assad urged us to do everything in our hands to prevent Christians from leaving Syria. ‘I know you are suffering,’ he said, ‘but please don’t leave this land, which has been your home for thousands of years, even before Islam came.’ He said that Christians will also be needed when the time comes to rebuild this devastated country.”

He said the majority of Syrian citizens support Assad’s government and have always supported it.

“We recognise legitimate rulers and pray for them, as the New Testament teaches us. We also see that on the other side there is no democratic opposition, only extremist groups. Above all, we see that in the past few years, these groups have been basing their actions on an ideology that comes from the outside, brought here by preachers of hatred who have come from and are backed by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt. These groups receive arms through Turkey too, as the media have shown us.”
Not only is the West attempting to destroy the last secular nation in the Middle East, it’s also giving weapons to Christian-killing fanatics. A sound foreign policy.

Source: russia-insider.com

Will Turkey turn Kirkuk to Kosovo? Iraqi Turkmens arming for self-defense

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My theory of Turkish Government Mosul false-flag operation will soon possibly be realized,  when and if Turkey Arm the Turkman in Kirkuk and with little bit of atrocity management, soon NATO will move in and liberate the new Republic of Kirkuk. [Emphasis in mine]

 

Report by Fehim Taştekin KAYSERİ – Radikal,

  Turkmens-IraqTurkmens in Iraq are arming themselves under pressure from increasing Kurdish militia power in Kirkuk.

Feeling threatened by the extending control of Kurdish peshmerga forces in Kirkuk, Iraqi Turkmens have begun to arm themselves, a prominent representative of the ethnic group has said, as the country finds itself dragged into further turmoil.

“We are definitely determined to establish an armed force. People are obliged to defend themselves,” Erşad Salihi, the leader of the Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITC), told daily Hürriyet.

“All other groups have militia forces. We are facing difficulties as we don’t have weapons. The central government’s weapons go to our Shiite brothers. The Sunnis and the Kurds are already armed,” Salihi added.

Following the seizure by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants of the Iraqi province of Mosul last week, Iraqi security forces retreated and left Kirkuk to Kurdish militants.

According to a deal reached between Iraqi defense and interior ministries and the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG), peshmarga will step in when the central government’s army fails to fulfil its duties, and this deal is the legal basis for the increasing peshmarga presence across northern Iraq.
The Kurdistan flag is now waving at a vast former U.S. military camp surrounded with concrete blocks as you enter Kirkuk, and it is clear that the Iraqi army is “out” while the Kurdish peshmarga forces are “in.”

Constabulary forces made up of Turkmen, Arab and Kurdish police officers are not totally absent from
the streets, but the only military power now is the peshmerga.

“We definitely don’t see Kirkuk as a part of the Kurdish region,” said Salihi, expressing his annoyance at the possibility of Kurdish authority becoming permanent.

“If there is a fait accompli, this will be against us. If a temporary situation becomes permanent, this would be a serious disturbance issue,” he added.

“Our people have expectations and we won’t accept such fait accompli politics. Our message to our brothers in northern Iraq [is that] we have always lived here together; we should remain in control all together,” Salihi said.

Salihi also rejected claims that Turkmen militants are fighting as part of the peshmerga forces. “There is no such thing. Those people who are there to earn their living are like mercenaries,” he said.
He also expressed resentment that Turkey was “not supporting Iraqi Turkmens enough.”

“Turkey should have been closer to the Turkmens. Turkey stood at an equal distance from everyone, but we should have been supported more. Turkmens cannot live here for one minute without Turkey’s moral force,” he said.

Salihi also claimed that political groups in Iraq seemed like they had agreed to divide Iraq into Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish regions, saying the “clues” have been clear for the past few years.

He said Iraqi Turkmens have always been siding with “stability” in Syria as they “knew the war would affect Iraq.” “Now, it has spilled over to Iraq and it threatens Turkmens the most,” he said, adding that all developments in the region should be seen as being related.

June/16/2014