Baku, June 30 (RIA Novosti, Gerai Dadashev) - Turkey will not try to sway Russia's decision on the transfer of its military bases from Georgia to Armenia, the Turkish Prime Minister said.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a press conference here Thursday that it was up to Russia to decide whether its bases should be re-deployed and that Turkey could only be a passive onlooker in this situation.
A week ago, Azeri President Ilham Aliyev announced plans to increase national defense spending to $300 million, almost double last year's $175 million. He said the decision had been prompted, among other things, by Russia's planned transfer of its military bases from Georgia to the neighboring Armenia.
Earlier, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said that only part of the weaponry and hardware would be moved in, in order to comply with the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty. Russia will not hand any of its weapons over to Armenia, he said.
On May 30, Russia and Georgia agreed that Russia's two bases pull out by 2008. The withdrawal of military hardware from the Akhalkalaki base near the Georgian-Armenian border is scheduled for 2006 and the facility's closure is due the following year. The Batumi base, on the Black Sea coast, will go in 2008.
