Richard Giragosian

YEREVAN (Novosti-Armenia), June 18 — “The armed forces of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh are the most powerful in the region, and Armenia is the only country that wishes peace and stability in the region,” said Richard Giragosian, the director of the Armenian Center for National and International Studies (ACNIS).

He spoke on Wednesday within the framework of a round table discussion concerning the balance of military power in the region, reforms in the defense sphere and civil-military relationships.

“Azerbaijan and Georgia are not so pleased with such a status quo since only Armenia is considered as a defensive power. Yet in the long-term outlook there is a risk that the balance of power may change in the favor of Azerbaijan,” Giragosian said.

According to him, the weekly military statements made by Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev pose a threat to the diplomacy and greatly cripple it. He noted that the threat to the regional stability is caused by Azerbaijan and not Armenia.

“In this connection, Armenia is the only country that contributes to safety assurance,” he said.

At the same time, when pointing at the differences between the military force structures of both countries, he said that the defense reforms in Armenia have an institutional nature, whereas in Azerbaijan they have a nature of institutional corruption, in the center of which stands the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense.

“It’s exactly because of this corruption that no veritable reforms are observed in the Azerbaijani army despite the input of billions of dollars,” said Giragosian, adding that it is not the amount of Azerbaijan’s inputs in the defense sphere that matters much, but the amount in the sphere of application funds.

Armenia has to give a corresponding response to Azerbaijan’s and even Georgia’s increasing military inputs, since those inputs serve to the development of military rivalry in the region.

As the analyst underlined, Armenia has already realized that the armed forces should be based on quality and not on quantity.

“Present day Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh are getting ready for 21st century wars, whereas Azerbaijan has remained in the 19th century. The latter is preparing for the wars of the past  and not of the future,” he said.

Giragosian characterized Azerbaijan’s military doctrine as “a tale far from reality.”

“Azerbaijan hasn’t initiated its military reforms yet. Even if Azerbaijan initiated its reform program tomorrow, Armenia will dispose of the “window of probabilities,” since only 8-10 years after starting the reforms can we speak about the normal state,” Giragosian said.

Translated from Russian by Yerevan Report

Photo credit: Public Radio of Armenia