Fighter planes attacked positions held by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in a 35-minute raid, the army said.Besides the healthy dose of bullshit present in the article as well as the entire conflict, the level of patriotism over U.S.-made weapons at the control of barbarians is also laughable. Frankly, I await the day when Turkey is no longer a strategic ally of the United States and is forced to return to its not-so-distant caveman past.
Turkish foreign ministry spokesman Levent Bilman told the BBC the United States "supplied actionable intelligence" for that operation.
He [Aliyev] told a government meeting that the military budget will grow by $300 million to $1.3 billion in 2008.Good ol' Ali hasn't lost his sense of humor, even if he may have lost 20% of "his" country.
"The insincere behaviour of Armenian occupation forces, dragging out the negotiation process, forces us to devote greater attention to military issues," Aliyev said. "Azerbaijan must be ready to liberate its lands by any means."
NATO member Turkey signed a $1.78 billion deal on May 11 to buy 30 F-16 fighter jets from U.S.-based Lockheed Martin Corp as part of an ambitious program to modernize its armed forces. Under the agreement, the aircraft will be produced, assembled, tested and delivered by Turkish aerospace firm Tusas in Ankara...Turkey is obviously on a buying spree. Even though the planes will be assembled in Turkey, the United States will benefit handsomely from this deal. Once more, the military gap between Turkey and Armenia widens.
In its biggest ever procurement project, Turkey signed a memorandum of understanding in January to buy 100 F-35 joint strike fighters worth nearly $10.7 billion from 2014 under a program led by Lockheed Martin.
A truck convoy carrying military equipment from a Russian military base in Georgia crossed the border with Armenia...The military convoy left the Akhalkalaki base in the south of the country heading for Gyumri (Armenia), where the 102nd Russian military base is located...The base already contains over 30 Mig-29s and other advanced weapons.
U.S. attack on Iran will have a negative influence on Armenia, which will occur between two flames, specialist in Persian philology Tadevos Charchyan.This will also affect Armenians living in the United States and I hope that no such conflict takes place.
And Armenia cannot remain neutral, since a lot of things connect us with the international community. I think, we must believe and hope, proceeding from the situation, that there will not be any conflicts.
The President's budget recommends cutting U.S. economic aid to Armenia from the FY2006 actual level of $69 million to a proposed FY2008 level of $35 million. The proposed FY2008 Foreign Military Financing figure for Armenia is $3 million, a cut of $960,000, fully 30% less than the proposed FY2008 figure for Azerbaijan of $4.3 million.They can take their hospital back if this is the thanks Armenia is going to get for its continued support of U.S. invasions.
The President is seeking only $300,000 in International Military Education and Training for Armenia [IMET], down $538,000 from FY2006, a dramatic cut of 64%. In sharp contrast, the White House is proposing that Azerbaijan receive $1 million in IMET, a considerable increase over their FY2006 level of $823,000 and more than three times the IMET levels being proposed for Armenia. Overall, the President's budget proposes 38% less in U.S. military aid for Armenia than for Azerbaijan.
The $1.2 million facility, inaugurated by U.S. and Armenian officials at the weekend, will be part of a special battalion of Armenia’s Armed Forces that provides troops for the U.S.-led occupation force in Iraq and the NATO-led peace-keeping contingent in Kosovo.Nothing ever comes free. Of course, Armenia went into Iraq to get political benefits from the U.S. - so far it has only got a mobile hospital.
Lieutenant Colonel Doug Peterson, chief of the Office of Defense Cooperation at the U.S. embassy in Armenia, said the donation marked the beginning of “intensive medical training and cooperation between” the Armenian and U.S. militaries. The hospital will receive more U.S. equipment later this year or early next, he said.
Armenia is not nervous for Azerbaijan’s active arming, stated Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Armenia colonel-general Mikayel Harutyunyan.Quotas then. But I beg to differ that "everything is relatively calm" at the borders.
“Azerbaijan himself decides what armament it wants to have. The main thing is that very armament must be within the framework of the quotas. As to the situation on the contact line of NKR army with Azeri armed forces, as well as the Armenian-Azeri border, everything is relatively calm. There is no significant tension there,” Harutyunyan underscored.
January 28 is the 15th anniversary of the Armenian army. In this connection a number of events have been organized.Congratulations to the Armenian Army! Maybe in the next 15 years they can work on decreasing the number of soldiers who either die or become psychologically altered while serving in times of peace. Better yet, maybe they can join the civilized world and end mandatory service.
"Fifteen years ago it would seem incredible that in such a short spell the groups protecting Artsakh would turn into the strongest army in the region. Today it is a fact which became reality thanks to the effort of thousands of Armenians", Tigran Torosyan said.
"The presence of the army tempered in war and peace is a reason for being proud. I congratulate the Armenian nation and its soldiers on the 15th anniversary of the army, and I pay my tribute of gratitude to the memory of all those Armenians who gave their life for the realization of this dream."
The US naval command announced yesterday that a fleet of American warships, including the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis, have been deployed to the Persian Gulf. Washington is making no secret of the fact that the amount of American military might that is being concentrated in the region is intended to bring pressure to bear on Iran, which the Bush administration blames for the failure of its mission in Iraq. The prevailing opinion in the region is that the United States is planning to strike Iran within the next few months.It doesn't seem to me that Iran is willing to back down, so the premise of a mere threat is unfounded. Will we see war in the coming months? How will it affect Armenia? All of this remains to be seen.
The carrier, which is crewed by more than 3,000 sailors, will stop off at the naval base in San Diego to pick up an 80-plane air wing before charting a course for the Persian Gulf.
Although both Armenian and Azerbaijani forces used land mines during the Karabakh conflict, HALO has received information about mine placement only from the Armenian and breakaway Karabakh governments. HALO currently employs 210 local residents in de-mining and support program operations.An interesting article with frightening statistics. No matter which side you're reading this from, I'm sure you will agree that mutual cooperation and funding is the only way to quickly prevent more innocent deaths.
Some 287 mine-related casualties or fatalities have been recorded in Karabakh since 1995, the organization says. Another 215 accidents have occurred. As of December, only two fatalities were recorded in 2006, and nine accidents with anti-personnel mines or unexploded ordnance took place.
Though HALO claims that Karabakh has the world’s highest incident of mines per capita (one per 13 residents, three times the number in Afghanistan), finding funding for mine clearance in the territory has been a challenge, according to Kumnova. The program manager charged that Azerbaijan’s suspicion of HALO’s operations lies at the root of the problem.
Kumnova estimates that another five to six years remain before the territory can be considered "mine-impact free." HALO has cleared about 16 million square meters of land to date; another 10 million square meters remain.
President Boris Tadic said "the issue has been successfully resolved" in his meeting with Russia's ambassador to Belgrade, Aleksander Alexeyev, who has given "a positive response" to Serbia's appeal that the Zastava arms company is allowed to sell guns and rifles worth US$2.55 million (€1.94 million) to Armenia.It's about time Armenia upgraded its weapons. I'd rather they never see much use, but one can never rule out certain possibilities.
Earlier this month Zastava criticised the Serbian government for withholding permission for its previously arranged sale to Armenia, allegedly because Russia — Serbia's traditional ally — objected to the Serbian supplier venturing into a market usually supplied by Moscow.
A spokesman for the Defense Ministry said an army conscript who identified himself as Samed Mamedov willingly crossed the westernmost section of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and surrendered to Armenian forces deployed there on Sunday. The official, Colonel Seyran Shahsuvarian, said the 19-year-old claimed to have been systematically mistreated and humiliated by his Azerbaijani commanders.I do feel bad for the fellow who was returned to the Azeris, because now he has to settle for fermented horse urine. If he's lucky, that is.
The reported incident occurred one day after another Azerbaijani soldier, who reportedly crossed into Armenian-controlled territory east of Nagorno-Karabakh earlier this month, was handed back to the Azerbaijani side with the help of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
As he told the Armenian Public TV, he will be glad if Russia decides to modernize the base and replenish it with the most modern armament.Armenia should upgrade its aging military equipment, but it would be much smarter to do as they are doing now: have the Russians do it for their bases within Armenia. Only after our economy stabilizes and the tax revenue maximizes should we consider arming ourselves with the latest and greatest weapons at our expense. Even then, only for reasons of defense.
According to him, the issue concerns Armenia and Russia only and "we are not obliged to ask for permission from anyone else."
Serge Sargsyan reminded of Azerbaijan's purchasing Ukrainian MIG-29 and other armament.
Russia plans to supply the 102nd base and Armenia’s Air Defense Troops with several anti-aircraft missiles S-300.
Azerbaijani Defense Ministry condemns Russia’s supplying Armenia with arms. The ministry press service officer Ilgar Verdiyev told the APA that Armenia stations the armaments in occupied Azerbaijani territories.
“Azerbaijan and Armenia joined the European Firearms Convention. We want the regional states to observe the terms of the contract,” he said.
