Azerbaijan and Armenia are in an arms race that threatens to undermine US-backed peace talks between the countries. As Voice of America correspondent Dorian Jones from Istanbul reports, the two countries have intensified efforts to equip their armies with weapons after the latest conflict in the Nagorno Karabakh region.
After last year's successful recapture of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region from Armenian-backed forces, Azerbaijan wants to continue its military success by increasing its arsenal, which it is doing with the help of Turkey.
“The Turkish defense industry is sending weapons and military equipment to Azerbaijan. This is expected to continue. But Turkey is not providing Azerbaijan with all the latest technology. Israel is doing this,” says Huseyin Bagci, a professor at the Middle East Technical University.
Turkish and Israeli analysts say the more advanced weapons and technology were crucial to Azerbaijan's success in defeating the Armenian-backed forces, which were equipped with Soviet-era Russian weaponry.
But after that defeat, Armenia began supplying arms from France, including the latest artillery.
Armenia says the new weapons are only for self-defense.
“At the moment, there is no military equality between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The goal is to create obstacles in the short term to make any aggression against Armenia much more costly than in the past,” says analyst Eric Hacopian.
The rearmament of Azerbaijan and Armenia comes as US-backed talks to settle territorial disputes remain deadlocked. Azerbaijan is concerned that arming Armenia could signal ambitions to regain control of the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
“There is a concern that in five, ten or more years, Armenia would rearm and be able to try to retake the region. Some Armenians say that this time they have lost the war, but they won the first war and after 15 or 20 years they will return to this issue”, says Farid Shafiyev from the International Relations Analysis Center.
Azerbaijan and Armenia say they are rearming only for self-defense purposes, but analysts warn that an arms race between them could destabilize the region.
“Armenia and Azerbaijan are like two children playing with fire, and the house is burning. Everyone is asking the big powers why this is happening and who caused it. They caused this together,” says Turkish researcher Huseyin Bagci.
Both countries say they are committed to US-backed talks, but their words may not be enough to avoid raising suspicions and damaging long-term prospects for peace.
