YEREVAN. May 24 (Interfax-AVN) - Partial relocation of Russian military bases from Georgia to Armenia is a positive factor for security in the region, Galust Saakian, secretary of the ruling Republican Party's parliamentary faction, said on Tuesday.
Armenia will benefit a lot from the presence of Russian military bases on its territory, Saakian told Interfax. "Russia is our strategic partner. In the context of the growing Turkish pressure on Armenia, partial relocation of the Russian military bases from the Georgian territory to Armenia is a positive factor at the present stage," he said.
Speaking about Azerbaijan's negative reaction in this issue, the lawmaker said that relations between Armenia and Russia have nothing to do with third states, and that "it is just another toehold for Azerbaijani hysteria."
Shavarsh Kocharian, lawmaker representing the opposition Justice bloc, and member of the Armenian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, told Interfax that "Azerbaijan looks strange, as it has armed itself, but protests the Russian presence in Armenia."
He recalled that Turkey has recently handed a huge volume of armaments and uniforms to Azerbaijan once again.
"Moreover, it is clear for everybody that the problem is not the amount of Russian military hardware in Armenia, but the presence of the Russian flag on the Armenian territory. And all those who say that the increase in the amount of Russian military hardware on the Armenian territory does not improve Armenian-Turkish relations, are trying to shift the focus," Kocharian said.
According to him, if Azerbaijan and Turkey are concerned over the Russian military presence in Armenia, they should make steps aimed at decreasing mistrust towards Turkey among the Armenian public, but in reality, just the opposite happens.
The leader of the Republican Party heads the Armenian government, and the party is part of the alliance of three pro-presidential parties controlling the majority of seats in the Armenian parliament.