THE ANSWER OF 1ST DEPUTY DEFENSE MINISTER DAVID TONOYAN TO THE QUESTION OF ARMENIAN MOD TV-PROGRAM “ZINUZH” (MILITARY FORCE)

Question: On September 3-6, in the Republic of Armenia strategic command-staff exercises “Shant-2015” were held. On September 12, the fire phase of the exercise will be held, and in early October, military exercises “Indestructible brotherhood” within the CSTO will be held. The Azerbaijani media spread information that from September 6-13 military exercises will be held, which will involve 65000 personal staff, 700 combat vehicles, 500 pieces of missile and artillery systems, 40 pieces of airplanes and helicopters. Are there any international mechanisms to monitor quantitative indicators of exercises and ensure their transparency?

Answer: International treaties on arms control, in particular in the framework of the OSCE, whose members are both Armenia and Azerbaijan, provide mechanisms to control the exercises. The Vienna Document of 2011 specifies that state-parties must inform all other state-members on any one exercise involving up to 9,000 people, 250 battle tanks or 250 mortars and rocket-propelled missile systems. Moreover, if the exercises of this level were not included in the plan of the previous year, the carrying out of them need to be informed at least 42 days before the start.