Azerbaijan, Baku / Trend corr. S.Agayeva / Azerbaijani military experts have criticized Armenia for accusing Azerbaijan of violating the armament limits.
" Armenia has been purchasing armaments from Russia and China in recent years. Armenia is therefore accusing Azerbaijan in order to draw the attention of international communities away from Armenia," Useir Jafarov, an independent expert of Azerbaijan, said in the interview to Trend agency.
The Armenian Defense Minister Vardan Oskanian blamed Azerbaijan for violating the armament limits during the annual meeting of the OSCE Council of Ministers in Madrid.
International organizations have no reason to accuse Azerbaijan for illegal dealings of armaments, Jafarov said. "The statements by Armenia concerning Azerbaijan have no foundation," Azerbaijani military expert Alakpar Mammadov said. Azerbaijan, as an independent country and a country which has a territorial conflict, should strengthen its defense system, the expert said.
" Azerbaijan did not undertake steps to violate the DOVSE agreement, and international organizations have not made such claims on this issue," Eldar Sabiroglu, the head of the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry's press-service reported to Trend agency.
The Azerbaijani Defense Minister Elmar Mammadyarov described the statements by Oskanian as unfounded.
The agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia stated that the quantity of armaments of both countries were to be equal. However, as Azerbaijan's population exceeds that of Armenia, we have fulfilled our obligations honestly," Sabiroglu said.
The DOVSE agreement was signed in Paris on 19 November 1990 and came into force on 9 November 1992. Azerbaijan signed the agreement after gaining independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
DOVSE is aimed at providing security and stability in the military forces of Europe, abolishing inequality which damages stability and security and is also aimed at preventing the launch of large-scale attacks on Europe.