s3 slide 1 nato access conflict in the caucasus spring 2000
TRANSCRIPT
S3 slide 1
NATO Access
Conflict in the Caucasus
Spring 2000
S3 slide 2
NATO Access
• War threatens between Armenia and Azerbaijan– In late 1999 fighting began between Armenian
and Azerbaijani militias around and in Nagorno Karabakh» The militias then received heavy weapons from
their respective national armies
– Fighting escalated to a high intensity– Armenia and Azerbaijan have declared military
mobilization
• Russian and Iranian military units are assembling along their respective borders
S3 slide 3
NATO Access — cont’d
• There is widespread civil disorder– Many thousand refugees have fled from the
fighting
• The Organization for Security & Cooperation in Europe sponsored a peace conference earlier this month– The Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan and
the leader of Nagorno Karabakh attended
S3 slide 4
NATO Access — cont’d
• At the conference, U.S. and European diplomats presented this plan– An immediate cease-fire
– Creation of a 20km demilitarized border zone
– Deployment of an NATO peacekeeping force to disarm the militias
• Russia immediately denounced the plan– It announced its opposition to any NATO
presence in this area
– Russia offered its forces as an alternative
S3 slide 5
NATO Access — cont’d
• The NATO military staff is developing its operational plan– Due to historical sensitivities, NATO has
decided not to use bases in Turkey– Bulgarian liaison officers advise that NATO
may request Bulgarian assistance» Specifically, NATO is interested in overflight
rights and use of airbases for staging and to operate a squadron of tankers
» Should NATO ground forces come under attack, NATO would like permission to use Bulgarian airbases for combat operations