Armenia not to enter NATO any time soon

The joint Armenian-NATO manoeuvres are aimed only at demonstrating the readiness of the partner-states of NATO to help each other face natural disasters.
The manoeuvres ‘Armenia 2010’ will be held in the town of Arzni in Kotayk Province from 11th to 17th of September and then in Yerevan.
Over 600 people from 26 states will be drilled in how to minimize the consequences of natural disasters and deal with any emergency situation, including 15 member-states of NATO's Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council and ‘Mediterranean Dialogue’.
The conference coordinating preparations for the joint activities was held last June in Yerevan. The Armenian government allocated 276,000 dollars to the manoeuvres, with NATO promising to refund 50% of the expenses.
According to the manoeuvres’ scenario a major earthquake destroyed almost all the infrastructure, including a chemical plant, in the vicinity of Yerevan, causing major casualties. The skills that Armenian rescue services are to obtain are vital for a country often affected by seismic activity. The Spitak Earthquake of 1988 demonstrated the inadequacy of the Armenian rescue forces for such a grave situation.
Armenia started co-operation with NATO a year after acquiring independence in the framework of the ‘Partnership for Peace’ program.
The country entered the program in 1994 and signed the Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) which stipulates bilateral consultations with NATO on national security, budget and environmental control issues in 2005.
Armenian peacekeeping forces take part in NATO operations in Kosovo and Afghanistan. However, Armenian authorities do not propose NATO membership as their political aim. Politicians, as well as experts, regard the CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organisation) as the main defense line and security assurance for Armenia, as NATO by the terms of IPAP would not provide military assistance to the country.
So the scheduled manoeuvres have strictly civilian and humanitarian aims and, according to some observers, do not differ from those of joint NATO-Russian forces.
The deputy director of the Caucasus Institute, Sergey Minasyan, said that these manoeuvres have more to do with Armenia’s relations with Turkey than with Armenian attempts to join NATO. He stressed that these activities might be a good pretext to open the Turkish-Armenian
border at least temporarily and to activate negotiations between the two parties. That opportunity, however, is likely to be missed.
Previously, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu denied information about a decision to open the border during the manoeuvres, which had been transmitted by several media-services.
Apart from all the rumours and points of view, the Armenian rescue services are to perfect their skills in cases of emergency. Moreover, activities such as ‘Armenia 2010’ require considerable experience in international politics and a high technical level, which Armenia possesses.
Susanna Petrosyan, Yerevan, exclusively to VK