CONTEMPORARY EURASIA VOLUME VII (1, 2) Contemporary-Eurasia-3new

TINA KHARATYAN deal on purchasing T-90C tanks and “Smerch” rocket launchers. Separate 2-3 bln-dollar delivery included S-300missile systems and attack helicop- ters as well. 56 Notably, during the period of 2010-2015 Azerbaijan bought 85% percent of its arsenal from Russia. 57 Israel-Azerbaijan strategic ties were formed since the Azerbaijani inde- pendence in 1991. One of the major intentions of this strategic alliance is the united aim to counter Iran. 58 Azerbaijan is Israel’s second biggest arms purchaser according to SIPRI. 59 Moreover, the scale of deals immense- ly increased since 2010. In 2012, 1.6 bln-dollar deal was signed to deliver drones (HAROP kamikadze-drones) and missile defense systems to Azer- baijan, which were used by Azerbaijan armed forces during 2016 four-day war in Nagorno-Karabakh. 60 Moreover, during 2016 military exhibition Or- biter-3 and Orbiter-4 UAVs were illustrated, which are items of Azerbai- jani-Israeli joint production. 61 Israel not only one of the major suppliers of high-tech hardware and modern armament, but Jewish diaspora in the USA plays an immense role in balancing Armenian lobby there. The list of military partners of Azerbaijan is not limited to the coun- tries listed above. Azerbaijan intensively enlarges the scope of military cooperation with diﬀ erent countries including Ukraine, Belarus, Ka- zakhstan, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Jordan, etc. Ukraine is one of the ma- jor suppliers of armament and artillery to Azerbaijan since RA’s inde- pendence. The Azerbaijan-Pakistan strategic partnership is unique in its nature. Pakistan was one of the ﬁ rst countries recognizing Azerbaijani independence in 1991 and one of the few states, which did not establish diplomatic relations with Azerbaijan’s main adversary Armenia. The de- velopment of bilateral dynamics between Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia is quite promising, too. Saudi Arabia not only a key state where Azerbaijani weaponry products are exported, but it is an important ally, which refused to recognize the independence of the Armenian Republic and consistently condemns “Armenia for its aggressive policy towards Azerbaijan”. 62 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 Ibid. “Report: Azerbaijan Gets 85 Percent of Its Weapons from Russia. (n.d.)” Eurasia.net, March 18, 2015, https://eurasianet.org/s/report-azerbaijan-gets-85-percent-of-its-weapons-from-rus- sia, (accessed June 4, 2018). Huseyn Aliyev, Emil Souleimanov and Maya Ehrmann, “Focused on Iran? Exploring the ra- tionale behind the strategic relationship between Azerbaijan and Israel,” Southeast Europe- an and Black Sea Studies 14, no. 4 (2014): 471-488; Oğuzhan Göksel, “Beyond Countering Iran: A Political Economy of Azerbaijan-Israel Relations,” British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies 42, no. 4 (2015): 655-675. “Trends in international arms transfers, 2016. (n.d.).”Stockholm International Peace Re- search Institute, 2016. https://www.sipri.org/publications/2015/sipri-fact-sheets/trends-inter- national-arms-transfers-2016 (accessed June 13, 2018). “Israel signs $1.6 billion arms deal with Azerbaijan,” Haaretz, February 26, 2012, https:// www.haaretz.com/1.5190757 (accessed June 7, 2018). Mkhoyan, et al., Azerbaijan. Rashid Shirinov, “Azerbaijan produces new generation weapons,” Azernews.az, January 19, 2018, https://www.azernews.az/nation/125791.html (accessed June 8, 2018). 35

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