Russia MFA: Moscow does not hide its technico-military cooperation with Yerevan

February 26, 2016 By administrator

Круглый стол, посвященный первой годовщине воссоединения Крыма с Россией.

Moscow does not hide the fact of its technico-military cooperation with Yerevan, and it calls on Baku to be understanding.

Maria Zakharova, official representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), stated the aforementioned.

“We [i.e. Russia] already have informed the Azerbaijani side, through diplomatic sources, that Russia is linked to Armenia with allied relations, including, it develops technico-military cooperation,” Zakharova said at a briefing. “This is a fact known to all. We cooperate openly, freely, and we don’t hide it. We hope that they understand this fact in Azerbaijan.”

In her words, Russia considers all regional risks when supplying weapons.

“Any supply of arms to both Armenia and friendly Azerbaijan is carried out by taking into account the need to maintain balance in the region,” Maria Zakharova noted.

Armenia, Serbia to expand defense cooperation

November 19, 2015 By administrator

At its session today the Armenian government approved the signing of an agreement between Armenia and Serbia on defense cooperation. According to Deputy Defense Minister of Armenia Ara Nazaryan, the purpose of the agreement is to determine the main principles and agenda of cooperation.

The sides will cooperate based on the principles of equality, reciprocity and mutual benefit in the defense and security policy, military economic and military legal spheres, and peacekeeping missions.

The Council of Europe ends its cooperation with Baku on Human Rights

October 8, 2015 By administrator

Strasbourg, 7 October 2015 (AFP) -The Council of Europe said Wednesday it was ending its cooperation on human rights with Azerbaijan because of the “deterioration” of the situation of fundamental rights in this country.

The Secretary General of the pan-European organization, Thorbjørn Jagland, informed the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe of its decision to withdraw from the joint working group on human rights set up in order to improve dialogue with Baku in the subject, he said in a statement.

This working group is composed of 18 activists of human rights, members of parliament and government, and representatives of the Council of Europe. The meetings were very episodic.

A representative of the Council of Europe are participating since October 2014 “to revive the dialogue between civil society and the authorities. Despite this initiative, the general situation of human rights activists has deteriorated, “the organization said in a statement.

“More and more human rights activists have recently been imprisoned, and the Council of Europe has received disturbing reports about unacceptable prison conditions,” according to the same statement. Among the members of this working group included including investigative journalist and activist Azerbaijani anti-corruption Khadija Ismailova, recently sentenced to seven and a half years in prison.

During September, a young opposition journalist Shirin Abbasov, was arrested for “resisting the police”. In August, a couple of activists for human rights, Leyla and Arif Yunus, has been sentenced to long prison terms in a case denounced by NGOs as orchestrated by the government.

President Ilham Aliev, 53, denies any accusation of breach of human rights, and his government denounced the criticism as a smear campaign against the country, a member since 2001 of the Council of Europe.

Thursday, October 8, 2015,
Ara © armenews.com

Ambassador: Japan is ready for defense cooperation with Armenia

October 6, 2015 By administrator

YEREVAN. – The Japanese side stands ready to collaborate with Armenia in the defense sector.

Japanese Ambassador Eiji Taguchi stated the aforementioned at his talk with Seyran Ohanyan, the Minister of Defense of Armenia.

Ohanyan on Tuesday received Ambassador Taguchi as well as Japan’s Military Attaché, Colonel Kazuya Ono—whose diplomatic residence is in Moscow—, on his accreditation to Armenia.

Seyran Ohanyan congratulated Colonel Ono on his accreditation. The minister also wished him productive work, and expressed the hope that new prospects will be opened for the development of Armenian-Japanese defense cooperation.

Eiji Taguchi, in turn, noted that Japan is ready to collaborate, and expressed the hope that respective progress will be achieved in the near future.

The interlocutors also conferred on regional security issues.

Source: news.am

Armenian, Serbian FMs ink cooperation deal

June 3, 2015 By administrator

The foreign ministers of Armenia and Serbia have signed a memorandum of understanding on bolstering cooperation.

The deal was concluded on Monday as Ivica Dačić, who now serves as the OSCE chairman-in-office, met with FM Edward Nalbandian for bilateral talks to discuss agenda issues, reports the Foreign Ministry’s press service.

The document envisages periodical political dialogues between the two countries.

Armenia must be concerned over its ally’s Russia closer military cooperation with potential enemies – experts

May 6, 2015 By administrator

The press service of Rosoboronexport, Russia’s largest arms supplier, has announced Russia’s intention to increase supplies of arms and military equipment to Turkey.

In an interview with Tert.am, Karen Vrtanesyan, coordinator of the razm.info website, said that Russian arms producers are seeking markets and agree to cooperate with any of them because of cutthroat competition.

“Russia is cooperating with Turkey in many areas. As to the reasons why our strategic ally is cooperating with our enemies – this is our problem. We have to show our strategic ally threats of – and our discontent with – its cooperation with our potential enemies. I can also say that Turkey often announces its military cooperation with certain states, but cooperation is not actually established,” Mr Vrtanesyan said.

For example, Turkey announced its cooperation with China, but NATO’s sharp reaction has so far prevented such cooperation despite the issue being often discussed.

“The China case may have made western suppliers make better offers to Turkey. The same may happen in Russia’s case,” he said.

M Vrtanesyan is sure that Russian-Turkey military cooperation is of purely economic nature as offers and demand are not everyday phenomena on the military market.

As to what attitude the Armenian side should show, Mr Vrtanesyan said:

“It should be negative in any case. Turkey purchasing sophisticated arms is not in Armenia’s interests at all.”

Political scientist Manvel Sargsyan notes that Armenia cannot remain unconcerned about Russia’s closer cooperation with Turkey or Azerbaijan in any areas as history has proved it has always been done at Armenia’s expense.

Mr Sargsyan is sure, however, that it is a political issue rather than an economic one.

“This is a purely political matter, while economy is merely a mechanism arousing interest, and the sides are seeking to employ it. On the other hand, nothing more appears to remain for the states to offer, and they are offering arms to one another. Offering and purchasing arms has become a means for states to settle relations and impose their own will on others.”