Armenian Armed Forces Chief of General Staff Colonel General Mikael
Harutiunian told RFE/RL that the situation on the frontline in Nagorno
Karabakh is calmer now than it was several months ago. In
February-March, the Armenian Foreign Ministry informed the
international community that Azeri military units were moving their
positions closer to the Armenian positions on the Karabakh
frontline.
“The positional advancement by Azeris has stopped, the command of
the Azeri armed forces understood that it would give them nothing,”
General Harutiunian told RFE/RL. Besides, he said, while advancing the
Azeris would incur heavy casualties “because of our steps to check
their progress”.
In General Harutiunian’s opinion, it is also possible that the
Azerbaijani public had its say in the halt of Azeri advancement along
the border.
In this regard, Harutiunian also spoke highly about the efforts of
OSCE Special Representative Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, whose constant
frontline monitoring helped considerably reduce the number of incidents
of exchange of fire.
“I would be happy if the command of the Azeri army understands that
they were wrong and should not resort to such actions in the future,”
said Harutiunian. He officially pledged: “On our part we will take all
measures not to allow further violations of the ceasefire regime along
the border.” He advised Azeri commanders to follow the example of their
colleagues in Nakhichevan, where no major incidents have been reported
on the border with Armenia.
“Of course, it happens so that a cow goes astray or a shepherd
crosses the border by mistake,” he said, adding that these cases are
immediately addressed by commanders on both sides, who meet and settle
matters peacefully.
Last year 19 cows crossed the border into Nakhichevan in a single
isolated case. Sixteen of the cows were transferred back to the
Armenian side immediately, while, according to Harutiunian, not to
aggravate the situation, Azeri commanders bought three cows in
Nakhichevan and gave them to the Armenian side.
Meanwhile, Azerbaijan continues to voice its dissatisfaction over
the planned transfer of Russian military hardware from Georgia to
Armenia. But Harutiunian says Azerbaijan itself exceeds the limits on
various types pf weaponry allowed by the Treaty on Conventional Forces
in Europe. According to the Armenian general, Azerbaijan’s tanks exceed
the number permitted by the CFE Treaty 1.5-2 times, whereas artillery
2-2.5 times exceed the admissible limit. Only the number of Azerbaijani
military aircraft is below the allowed limit, he added.
Harutiunian said the Armenian peacekeeping contingent in Iraq will
undergo rotation in mid-July. The general said he is in touch with the
unit almost every day and according to him, “everything is normal and
there is no dissatisfaction with the operations of the Armenian
contingent.”
“Our engineering troops conduct operations together with their
colleagues from Salvador, and U.S. instructors help them in their
duties,” he said.
He also said that Armenian drivers came from Kuwait a few days ago
bringing humanitarian cargoes with them. “They have good relations with
the local Armenian community which gave them a warm welcome,”
Harutiunian said.
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