MP ACCUSES AZERBAIJANI DEFENCE MINISTRY OF PURCHASING OLD MILITARY EQUIPMENT
Trend News Agency
Feb 1 2008
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan, Baku, 1 February / The situation in the Azerbaijani Army
should be discussed in Parliament. "The funds allocated from the public
budget for the army are not being spent on purchases of new equipment,"
MP Gudrat Hasanguliyev said at the parliamentary meeting on 1 February.
The fighter jet MIG-29 of the Air Forces of Azerbaijan crashed during
the training nearby the Shurabad Khizi settlement on 29 January. Both
pilots on board the fighter jet, Fakhraddin Asgarov and Afgan Aslanov,
died.
According to Hasanguliyev, the Defence Ministry purchases old
equipment. "A new MIG-29 jet costs $31mln. The Azerbaijani Defence
Ministry purchases old airliners paying $26mln for each and then buys
expensive navigation systems from France. As a result, a fighter jet
crashed and killing two Azerbaijani professional pilots. This issue,
as well as the nationality of the people who buy the airliners should
be investigated," he said.
The war between Azerbaijan and Armenia is not over. Therefore, the
army is not a matter of one or two people in the Defence Ministry,
but the entire nation, Hasanguliyev said. "The number of Azeri Turks
should be increased in the Army’s administration. It is time to speak
openly about this," he said. The administration of the Defence Ministry
should be called to Parliament to deliver a report, he added.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
