An "Act of Provocation Against the Sovereignty of Armenia"
Prime-Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, called the recent military exercises of the soldiers of the Russian military base near the village Panik on 18 July “a provocation against the sovereignty of Armenia.”
On July 17, servicemen from a Russian military base in Armenia started sudden military exercises near the village of Panik in the north of Armenia, close to a Russian military shooting range. Russian soldiers started their drills without notifying the local administration in advance, thereby terrifying local residents with deafening gunfire and explosions. Some locals angrily demanded explanations, while others perceived the exercises as an act of foreign aggression, many of them running from their homes, escaping the village, others were traumatized and needed medical and psychological assistance due to the panic caused by the drills.
Speaking at a meeting of the government this afternoon, PM Pashinyan said “This is an unacceptable incident. I consider it a provocation against Armenian-Russian relations, and a provocation against the sovereignty of Armenia. Those responsible for this incident must be punished and I am aware, that the Police of Armenia are investigating this case.”
Earlier today, Armenia’s Minister of Defense, Davit Tonoyan, received the Temporary Charge d'Affaires of the Russian Federation, Andrey Ivanov, the Military Attaché of the Russian Federation in Armenia, Evgeni Bulantsov, and the commander of the 102nd military base of the Russian Federation in Armenia, Vladimir Yelenkov, to discuss the incident with the involvement of Russian servicemen near the village of Panik.
According to the Facebook page of the spokesperson of the Defense Ministry, Artsrun Hovhannisyan, the minister has demanded detailed information about the incident at Panik.
The Defense Minister of Armenia has urged the Russian commandership to cooperate more closely with the Armenian authorities when planning these kinds of drills in the future, and to ″pay special attention to strengthening good-neighborly relations with the local population.”
According to Hovhannisyan, Vladimir Yelenkov said that the drills were planned and agreed upon with the local administration beforehand, but the Russian side did not take into account the local population’s possible concerns and apologizes for what happened.
According to a 2010 Armenian-Russian agreement, the Russian military base will stay in Armenia until 2044, with the possibility of extension.
The Russian base secures the Armenian-Turkish border and, according to the agreement of Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), the Russian base must support Armenia, a CSTO member, in case of foreign aggression on Republic of Armenia.
By Karen Tovmasyan
Photo: Lragir.am