Actually, nature abhors a vacuum…
by Vladimir Zakharov
Friday, April 26, 23:30
A few days ago, Azerbaijani media reported that Azerbaijan has
suspended all its negotiations with Russia on the purchase of new
weaponry and military equipment. Some analysts believe these reports
might seem to be consistent given Moscow’s recent refusal to lease the
Gabala radar station because of the unreasonably high price recently
demanded by Baku – 300 mln USD against the previous 7 mln USD.
However, there are many analysts, who have noticed that Azeri media
almost simultaneously reported that European producers had
unexpectedly softened the terms of weaponry sale to the South Caucasus
countries. The conclusion that it was stove-piping proved to be right.
That refusal has seriously damaged the military-technical cooperation
of Moscow and Baku. It is considered to be a blow on the right place.
It had been prepared for a long time and purposefully. I’d like to
tell something from the recent past that fundamentally changes the
idea of alleged close military cooperation with our country. It was in
May 2007. I worked at MGIMO (Moscow State Institute for International
Relations) then. Suddenly, I received a phone call from Gromiko from
the Foreign Ministry. He previously worked at the Russian Embassy in
Armenia and told me that I am charged to hold a meeting with Araz
Azimov, Deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, on May 8. Azimov was on
an official visit to Moscow at that moment. I had 1.5 day to organize
that meeting. All the teachers were at their country houses and it was
very difficult to gather the necessary quantity of people on May 8.
Nevertheless, we have gathered them. Though it were mainly Azerbaijani
students gathered by Leyla Aliyeva. Gromiko arrived the first and said
with a smile on his face that the negotiations with Azimov proved so
successful that `we have realized that Azerbaijan is the closest
country for us. You cannot even imagine how good is their attitude
towards us,’ he said. In response to my question: `So what? Have you
believed him?’ Gromiko shook his shoulders with bewilderment. Azimov
arrived accompanied with Javanshir Ashraf ogli Akhundov, an employee
of the Embassy, whom I had repeatedly met before. Although, he
occupied the position of the advisor to the Azerbaijani Ambassador to
Russia, he was more connected with special services of his country.
It was him, who organized my meeting with the new resident that
arrived for replacement at the Embassy in Moscow. The latter offered
me to open a center, institute or any other structure on the
Azerbaijani funds with a staff of 10 people with high salary and paid
work trips in exchange for publications in the Russian press. They
were ready to pay for all that rather big sums. I refused. They found
another person, a lecturer from the Moscow State University, who has
been working with a big team for the Azerbaijani authorities for
already several years.
Thus, the meeting with Azimov started. First of all, he said that
Azerbaijan like Russia prefers a multi-vector foreign policy. The
deputy minister said that Azerbaijan and Armenia were very close to
resolve the conflict, but the negotiators should be very careful in
their actions not to make any mistakes that might bring the
achievements to nothing and throw the negotiations back. He said that
Azerbaijan, in turn, was ready for a compromise and resolution of the
conflict within the principle of the territorial integrity of states.
I’d like to recall that it was May 8 2007. Six years have passed since
then and nothing has remained from his assurances that the parties are
close to the resolution of the conflict. What we have now is the
trigger-happy policy of the president and his minions. Azimov as an
experienced and cunning diplomat knew everything beforehand. He knew
that Azerbaijan planned nothing of the kind. He even managed to
mislead experienced diplomats of the Russian Foreign Ministry. In the
meanwhile, Azerbaijan was transferring models of the new Russian
military hardware to its new friends – America and Israel.
Actually, that was the true reason of their close military cooperation
with out country. Leasing of the Gabala radar station by Russia was
just a cover, a pretend to receive military hardware. Russia missed
that. They were holding friendly meetings of presidents, politicians
and analysts in our country. Already at the 5th Convent of RAMI
(Russian International Studies Association) at MGIMO, the attitude to
the problems of the South Caucasus, including the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict, could be easily guessed from the attitude of the Azerbaijani
delegation led by Madam Ganira Pashaeva, that female power broker. I
had already written that when Azerbaijan joins NATO, it is will be too
late for Russia to do anything in opposition. However, at the meeting
with Azimov, the author of the official information did not cover the
questions Azimov was asked in reality. Naturally, MGIMO
representatives asked him about the military cooperation of the two
countries. Here is one of those questions: `Mr. Azimov, your country
has began purchasing less shells, bullets, and other ammunition. What
is the reason? You have still enough combat efficient military
hardware from Soviet time. Maybe, you have utilized all that?’ Azimov
replied without hesitation: `You know, now we use NATO’s shells,
bullets and all the necessary military hardware. The point is that
they in NATO created adapters for the entire Russian weaponry and we
now use their shells and other ammunition and military hardware they
supply.’
Actually, Azerbaijan began purchasing ammunition from other countries
since early 21stcentury. Azerbaijan will keep using the Soviet models
of military hardware, but it does not need the modern military
hardware of Russia. They transferred to the NATO standards long ago.
At first, they did it on the quiet, concealing everything from Russia.
Now, it is generally known that Baku develops military cooperation
with 12 NATO member-states as well as Pakistan, Croatia, Columbia,
Kazakhstan, China, Malaysia, Uzbekistan, Korea, Israel, Austria,
Ukraine, Qatar and Bahrain. Baku dynamically develops cooperation with
Turkey, which oversees building of Azerbaijan’s military-industrial
complex… Therefore, the ruling dynastic regime in Azerbaijan will not
develop military cooperation with Russia. As David Babayan mentioned,
this speaks volumes. It demonstrates, first of all, the vulnerability
of the regime and Azerbaijan itself, which was aptly characterized as
a Colossus with Feet of Clay by a European expert. Baku understands
the nuances of the situation and has nothing to do but play with
Russia via the media that disseminate misinformation, which meets the
best traditions of Aliyev’s propaganda. (David Stepanyan. Nature
abhors a vaccum…)
It is not a secret that Western countries prepare and store huge
reserves of ammunition in the territory of Azerbaijan not to protect
that country from mythical enemies, but to war against Iran. And the
propagandists in Baku should not distort their faces into grimaces of
surprise. Azerbaijan is preparing for a large-scale war against the
Islamic Republic of Iran. The territory of Azerbaijan has become a
reserve aerodrome for Israel and America and other countries that will
get everything necessary to war against Azerbaijan’s neighbor.
Azerbaijan put an eye on Iran yet long ago. In Baku they openly say
what part of Iran they will get.
I think that they have already prepared new geographic maps with
`annexed’ territories. The talks at the Azerbaijani Milli Mejlis on
renaming the country into Northern Azerbaijan and similar nonsense are
not nonsense, in reality. This is the very reality the Azerbaijani
political circles act in. In Baku they began selling the bear’s skin
before one has caught it. What if everything happens on the contrary
and some regions break away from Azerbaijan becoming independent
states. After all, Aliyev’s policy towards minorities in Azerbaijan is
not just shameful; it is criminal.
áD39ED0-AEA7-11E2-B5E8F6327207157C&view=displaypageArticleWithComment
http://www.arminfo.am/index.cfm?objectid