Author: Elmira Tariverdiyeva, Baku. Exclusively for VK
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has determined members of the national group for negotiations of the status, principles of lease and use of the Qabala radar (information and analytics center “Daryal”) with Russia with the end of terms of the old contract of January 25, 2002. The Azerbaijani group is supervised by Vice-Premier Yagub Eyubov. The Moscow side will be represented by officials from Ministries of Defense, Foreign Relations, Industry and Trade.
The radar is used for missile warning on the Southern Hemisphere. Russian terms of lease expire this year. Moscow wants to prolong the deal until 2025. Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Khalaf Khalafov said that modernization initiatives of Russia will be determined at negotiations, which would be complex and result in preparation of a document regulating the terms and payment of lease. Azerbaijani officials say that the discussions will include talks on property of latest technology for missile control, if modernization should start.
Vladimir Dorokhin, Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Russian Ambassador to Azerbaijan, has recently given some details of negotiations, saying that Moscow does not plan to build a new radar to replace the one in Qabala. He clarified that they already have plans for modernization and their realization. The modernization program is beneficial and very important, taking the Iranian nuclear program into account, Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov says.
Azerbaijan wants to increase the lease price from 7 million to 15 million manats for the radar. Russia insists on keeping the old price and reducing the territory leased. But there is one important fact, Russia will reconstruct the radar and improve its efficiency. There is also need to study effects of the facility on the local environment. Rumours say that local inhabitants suffer from illnesses and their children are born with physical defections. The rumours have not been confirmed. Physical characteristics of waves radiated from the Qabala radar are similar to the ones a mobile operator tower has, it loses effect at a range over 100 meters and cannot harm living organisms. Reconstruction and modernization would change the parameters. Russia seems to agree that old agreements on lease of the Qabala radar do not meet modern realities.
The radar has recently been discussed by Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov and his Azerbaijani counterpart General-Colonel Safar Abiyev in Alma-Ata. Irina Kovalchuk, press secretary of the Russian Defense Ministry, said that Russia and Azerbaijan plan to prolong lease of the Qabala radar until 2025. The radar is significant to Russia for its geostrategic location. Russian officials say that Moscow may reconsider use of the radar within the framework of the Russian missile shield. Moscow used to be trying to persuade the US to operate the radar together, but all negotiations have brought no results. The US refused due to technical condition of the radar. US radar network in the Caucasus is doubtful because the region is close to Iran, making early detection of Iranian guided missiles complicated.
Washington confirmed uselessness of the Qabala radar to detect Iranian missile threats back in 2007, when the US refused Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s proposal for joint operation of the radar. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s harsh statement about the European missile shield in Europe clarifies that the radar would be used by Russia for at least the coming years.
The Qabala radar is in its own way a symbol of trust-based relations between Russia and Azerbaijan. Data gained at the radar is also sent to Azerbaijani anti-missile defenses. This makes both states benefit from Russia’s operating the radar. Russia would have a modern radar controlling southern regions, playing an important role in missile defenses, Azerbaijan will have financial benefits and information for national missile defenses.
