US embassy cable - 04YEREVAN1813

C O N F I D E N T I A L YEREVAN 001813 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/CACEN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/16/2014 
TAGS: PREL, PM, PGOV, AM, AJ 
SUBJECT: ARMENIA'S TEST FOR NATO AND PFP: WILL THEY BE 
ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE IN CBE04? 
 
REF: A) YEREVAN 684 B) UNDERWOOD-SIDEREAS 8/13/2004 
 
     E-MAIL 
 
Classified By: CDA A.F. Godfrey for reasons 1.5 (b) and (d). 
 
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A TEST FOR PFP 
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1. (C) GOAM senior policy makers are looking to the upcoming 
Cooperation Best Effort 2004 (CBE04) Partnership for Peace 
(PfP) mid-September exercise in Azerbaijan as a test case for 
whether NATO, PfP members and the U.S. genuinely want to work 
with Armenia.  Until the five Armenian military officers who 
have requested visas at the Azerbaijani Embassy in Tbilisi 
receive their visas and are allowed to take part in the 
exercise, GOAM senior officials from the President to the 
Foreign Minister will continue to present this as a clear-cut 
test of NATO's will. 
 
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NO CBE04 WITHOUT THE ARMENIANS? 
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2. (C) GOAM officials point to the fact that they allowed 
Turkey to participate in CBE03 exercises in Armenia (and 
invited Azerbaijan as well) and note that they expect the 
U.S. and its NATO allies to pressure Azerbaijan into allowing 
Armenian participation in CBE04. 
 
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CLOSER ARMENIAN MILITARY COOPERATION 
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3. (C) In recent months, Armenia has shown important signs 
that it is considering closer engagement on defense issues; 
the GOAM is developing its Individual Partnership Action Plan 
(IPAP) and agreed to a Defense Assessment on August 5. 
Armenian officials lead us to believe that if CBE04 goes 
forward without Armenian participation we can expect serious 
disenchantment with both NATO and PfP. 
GODFREY