COMMANDER OF RUSSIAN MILITARY BASE IN ARMENIA THREATENS AZERBAIJAN
Turan Information Agency, Azerbaijan
November 1, 2013 Friday
Baku/31.10.13/Turan:
It appears that the Azerbaijani government concerned about the fate
of Orkhan Zeynalov finally lost landmarks, and their statements about
defending the national interests look ridiculous.
Last week the Foreign Ministry, Parliament, Attorney General, Embassy
of Azerbaijan in Moscow and many others were just so busy defending
the national dignity of Azerbaijanis in Russia. It seems that for
all of these and other state agencies dealing with Orkhan Zeynalov
acquired such importance that they have lost the ability to see and
hear anything else.
If it were otherwise, our diplomats, politicians and statesmen could
not miss the scandalous performance by the commander of the 102nd
Russian military base in Armenia Andrei Ruzinsky.
In an interview with the newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda yet on October 10
this colonel said:
“The military-political situation in the zone of responsibility of
the military base is restless and is characterized by a number of
destabilizing factors associated with the possibility of an escalation
of conflict in the region – the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. In
the case of the management’s decision to restore the jurisdiction of
Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh by force the military base may enter
into an armed conflict in accordance with the contractual obligations
of the Russian Federation within the framework of the CSTO.”
And how did the official Baku react to this and did the embassy in
Moscow submit a note to the Russian Foreign Ministry?
Yes, they responded – they gave two notes demanding to ensure the
rights of Orkhan Zeynalov.
As experience shows, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry and other
agencies respond rapidly to negative reports about violations of
human rights and democracy, and also the criticism of the ruling
family and corruption in the country.
It is a priority of the government. And it turns out that the threat
of a foreign country to use military force against Azerbaijan is not
such an important phenomenon to react to it – that is, the issue is
not a priority.
It is very interesting that the statement of Colonel Ruzinsky was
not disavowed by the Defense Ministry of Russia, though the head of
the Collective Security Treaty Organization has repeatedly said that
Nagorno-Karabakh is not a zone of CSTO responsibility, as de jure it
is a territory of Azerbaijan.
As for the military’s 102nd military base in Armenia, it includes 13
main combat units and 17 units of comprehensive support. It includes
SAM battalions C- 300B, SAM Buk -M1-2, a reactive battery Tornado
and air bases with a squadron of MiG -29.
The number of troops by some estimates is about 3,000 people and it
continues to grow.
In the course of joint exercises with units of Armenian Armed Forces
this year they worked out combat operations management, reflection
attack, counter-attack on the retreating enemy, etc.
According to the same Ruzinsky, it is planned to strengthen the
air base at the airport in Erebuni – close to the MiG -29 and post
war military transport helicopters. The entire package of bilateral
documents required has been signed, the colonel said. -02D-