IV. Arms transfers to Armenia and Azerbaijan, 2007–11

Chapter:

6. International arms transfers

Source:

SIPRI Yearbook 2012

Author(s):

Paul Holtom, Mark Bromley, Pieter D. Wezeman, Siemon T. Wezeman, Paul Holtom

There have been regular warnings since the 1994 ceasefire about the prospect of a renewal of the 1992–94 war between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian-populated region of Azerbaijan (see figure 6.3). In 2011 several observers noted particular pressures in the two countries that could push them into war in the near future.¹ Armenia and Azerbaijan have both identified the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as a key national security priority.² While both sides stress a commitment to a peaceful resolution of the conflict, each accuses the other of violating the 1990 Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE Treaty) and of pushing them into an arms race.³ In military parades held in 2011 both states displayed new and previously unseen military equipment in obvious shows of strength.⁴