Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
December 22, 2006 Friday
BYE MOM, ILHAM NEEDS ME!
by political observer Grigori Aleksandrjan
ARMENIAN POLITICAL OBSERVER COMMENTS ON INNOVATIONS IN THE MILITARY
LEGISLATION OF AZERBAIJAN; New Year surprise for Azerbaijani
draftees?
Azerbaijani authorities intend to amend the acting legislation in
order to boost numerical strength of the regular army. The idea is
promoted by the presidential apparat i.e. by President Ilham Aliyev
himself. Judging by what is contemplated, Azerbaijani youths are in
for trouble.
Azerbaijan runs conscription campaigns four times a year – in
January, April, July, and October. It means that whoever is
disinclined to go to the army is kept under pressure the year round,
constantly compelled to pay bribes for their freedom for another
couple of months. Conscription campaigns have been limited to the
first 20 days of the abovementioned months until now. The idea is to
extend their duration to 30 days every 3 months.
Graduates from universities and colleges are to be drafted for
eighteen months in the army, not twelve anymore.
The new amendments will be particularly harsh on conscripts with
three children. No more deferments for them.
Conscription to the regular army in Azerbaijan applies to men aged
18-35. It means that Azerbaijan experiences difficulties with
staffing the army.
Only five years ago the conscription age in Azerbaijan ended at 27,
like in the good old USSR.
Independent military experts do not expect these innovations in the
legislation to improve the state of affairs in the Azerbaijani army
or to do away with its problems that worry society. Here is a list of
some of these problems or shortcomings. Corruption of the officer
corps. A lot of senior officers of the Azerbaijani army are guilty of
theft of state property, bribes, abuses of power, forgery, and so on.
Senior positions in the regular army are reserved for incompetents
with pipelines into high places or with money sufficient to buy the
position and promotions afterwards. Cruelty in the barracks is
omnipresent. A great deal of youth drafted in the army are physically
unfit.
The Azerbaijani army is literally a disease-breeder.
All of that compels families to seek ways and means to spare their
young the necessity of military service. Many of the latter leave the
country, mostly for Russia. The authorities therefore cannot help
taking measures to staff the regular army.
Uzeir Jafarov, a military expert prominent in Azerbaijan, does not
think meanwhile that quantity means quality. Janmirza Mirzoyev,
former commander of the Baku Supreme Naval College, agrees with
Jafarov. He is convinced that these new amendments will only breed
corruption in conscription campaigns. "Our army is unfortunately
corrupt," Mirzoyev said. "Whatever sums set aside for the Armed
Forces are mostly embezzled. If you ask me, this is what
parliamentarians should be paying attention to."
Parliamentarians all but appointed by Aliyev himself are unlikely to
listen to Mirzoyev who is out of favor with the powers-that-be.
"We know that Karabakh is still occupied. Everyone believes that
these lands should be fought for and returned to Azerbaijan. Once we
begin preparations for it, however, everyone finds an excuse to be
doing something else," said Ali Guseinov, Chairman of the
Parliamentary Commission for Legal Policy and State Development.
Sound reasoning indeed.
Is the regular army of Azerbaijan ready for combat? Another military
expert Alekper Mamedov is absolutely correct when he says that it is
something that may be decided only when the hostilities have already
begun. "No matter how we extol certain accomplishments in the sphere
of national defense, we should never forget that the neighbor country
(Armenia – author) has not been idle either. It has built up its
military potential too," he said. That is why Mamedov promotes
reforms in all spheres from staff policy to technical rearmament as
the only means of strengthening the army. According to Jafarov, even
Turkey seems to be rapidly losing interest in the Azerbaijani army.
"If you ask me, the Turkish military has perceived Azerbaijan’s
disinclination to implement NATO theoretic and practical programs of
development of the armed forces," he said. As a matter of fact,
Jafarov does not even think that the ever increasing arms spending
signify strengthening of the army because the military budget is
anything but transparent. There are no guarantees that the money does
not end up in someone’s pocket.
In any case, presidential amendments will be certainly adopted which
we believe will only anger the Azerbaijanis whose sons are doomed to
encounter all peculiarities of military service in Azerbaijan.
Source: Novoye Vremya (Yerevan), December 19, 2006, EV
Translated by A. Ignatkin
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
