STEPANAKERT. Nov 1 (Interfax-AVN) - Seiran Oganyan, defense minister of the self-proclaimed republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, has said that the republic's army is getting better each year and is capable of ensuring national security.
At the latest command post exercise, held in August this year, 99 percent of reservists were mobilized on time, Oganyan told reporters. The figure shows that the people are ready to rise up and defend Nagorno-Karabakh in case of danger, he said.
Commenting on foreign media reports that Azerbaijan and the U.S. are negotiating the deployment of U.S. troops in several areas controlled by Nagorno-Karabakh, the minister said they were groundless.
"We have created a quite serious defense system in those areas, combat-ready units are stationed there, and we are not planning to leave. The territory issue can only be settled in the framework of talks on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement," Oganyan said.