Armenia to Start Licensed Manufacturing of AK-12 and AK-15 Rifles

@Audie Bakerson Nope, and considering erdogan's BS, we might actually have better relations with yerevan in the near future.

@john huscio Hopefully their license allows for exports to US.

@Audie Bakerson If there is a license from CK, which will naturally demand that CK gets royalties, US sanctions will ban that.

@Max G What does Calvin Klein have to do with this?....Oh nevermind

@Audie Bakerson Yes their is an arms embargo in place, which was implemented right after the independence of Armenia from the USSR which does not allow the flow of arms coming from Armenia. Sorry to burst your bubble but we won't be seeing these here anytime soon.

@john huscio While you are incorrect about the arms embargo, you are spot on with your assessment of the geopolitical condition of the region. If relations with Turkey continue to worsen I can see a 180 shift in policy with Armenia. If that occurs then anything is possible. I would imagine the policy creators in Washington would want to strengthen ties with Yerevan and the removal of trade barriers is a huge way to do so.

@Patriot Gunner What exactly was the reasoning behind that arms embargo? Outside of turkish lobbying, i cant think of any....

@Patriot Gunner LMAO!!!

@john huscio Probably general former Soviet state export ban. But like you mentioned Turkey alongside Azerbaijan are US partners with a serious interest in seeing Armenia remain poorly defended and poor in general.

@Patriot Gunner We've sided against Armenia on the Nogorno Karabakh side of things as well and Russia has been supplying military helicopters and drones to Armenia lately. Russian military aid would be a deal killer for most Armenian policy shifts I'm guessing. I haven't kept up on the latest color revolution theater going on there though so maybe that will mix everything up. Russia could just sprinkle some S-400s on them to poison US advances. I wouldn't see that as out of the question considering the cold war style bs going on throughout NATO member states towards Russia. They know they can't afford to allow any further buffer nation switches.

@Brut Faberge As an Armenian myself I am thoroughly impressed with your knowledge of these matters. Bravo good sir, bravo! Most people don't even know where Armenia is on a map (to tell you the truth I don't blame them as it is a tiny country).

You hit the nail squarely on its head, due to the current policies of Washington, like the Nogorno Karabakh issue you mentioned, its going to take a long time to persuade perception in Armenia about the validity of a potential policy shift from Washington. If it were to ever happen I think Washington would come to the table with enticing offers to Yerevan, but the end to Russian military aid would certainly be a prerequisite.

I think the current Russian base in Armenia does have some S-400s at their disposal, I could be wrong, but yes a sprinkling of S-400s would make a lot of politicians in Yerevan happy =D

And I'll throw in another curve ball here, Iran. Russia definitely can't afford to lose another buffer state, but it would be certain destruction for Iran if Armenia were to become a NATO ally as Yerevan is only 700 miles away from Tehran.