Uzeir Jafarov: "Azerbaijan doesn't spend billions of dollars to buy weapons out of choice"

Last Saturday, the final competitions of the 2016 International Military Games were held at the training complex of Alabino. The newcomers – the Azerbaijani tank crews who participated in the 'Tank Biathlon' competition – destroyed all the targets of the ensuing stage of the individual competition, left behind the Armenian team and advanced to the semifinals, where they took seventh place. The military expert Uzeir Jafarov told Vestnik Kavkaza about Azerbaijan's participation in the games and Russian-Azerbaijani military-technical cooperation.

- How would you describe the performance of the Azerbaijani military in the 'Tank Biathlon' and their level of training?

- Azerbaijani servicemen took part in the military games for the first time. The Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov personally took part in the opening and closing ceremonies of this competition. For their first time, our troops have shown a good result, considering that the competition requires knowledge of the terrain and the situation. For their first time, the soldiers have shown their best side. I heard that a commentator admired the skills of the Azerbaijani tank crews, which hit targets, as well as demonstrated high skills in the obstacle crossing exercises and tank ditches using T-72s. This is a good start and Azerbaijan, apparently, will continue to participate in such competitions.

Azerbaijani Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov thanked the staff.  The deputy chief of staff of the armed forces of Azerbaijan, Nizam Osmanov, was in Alabino from the first day until the end of the competition, my colleague, with whom we fought in Karabakh and who is very competent and very prepared, controlled the tank crews.

Our tank crews made a favorable impression. Today, Azerbaijan is armed with Russian T-90 tanks. I think that Azerbaijan will be represented by a broader composition in future competitions and more modern weapons and equipment. I was impressed by the organization of these events, and I believe that our guys should take part in them and show good results.

- How do you assess the current level of Russian-Azerbaijani military cooperation?

- Azerbaijan has always maintained good relations with Russia in both economics and politics. In recent years there has been cooperation in the military field as well. Azerbaijan is one of Russia's partners, which faithfully carries out all its obligations. Recently, the supreme commander of the armed forces of Russia, President Vladimir Putin, stressed at a meeting with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan that Azerbaijan is an oil producer with a sufficient amount of money and gold reserves, and it can buy any weapons or equipment in any country. Thus, Vladimir Vladimirovich wanted to remind the Armenian side that, although Armenia is opposed to Russian supplies of weapons to Azerbaijan, Baku, unlike Yerevan, pays its hard-earned money for these weapons.

Meanwhile, Azerbaijan doesn't spend billions of dollars to buy weapons and equipment out of choice. If our territories were not under Armenian occupation, the money would be safely directed to healthcare, education and social needs. But as long as the Karabakh issue is not resolved, Azerbaijan is forced to buy expensive weapons. We have purchased S-300 air defense systems, artillery systems, missiles, T-90 tanks not only in Russia but also in other countries.

The day before yesterday the Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu visited Baku to hold talks with the President and Minister of Defence, and, as far as I know, Azerbaijan intends to purchase from Russia a large batch of weapons and equipment in the near future. These are normal relations.

Azerbaijan's only request to Russia as a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group is that Moscow step up its activity and force Armenia to comply with international rules and regulations. Russia as one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council has the ability to have an impact on Armenia.

We have always had a close friendship with Russia, but the unresolved Karabakh problem hinders our cooperation a little. If this problem were to be resolved, Russian-Azerbaijani relations would be much closer and much wider than those we have seen before the collapse of the USSR. And we had good relations in Soviet times, Azerbaijani servicemen were prepared in Russian universities, Russian servicemen were on the territory of Azerbaijan, they felt at home here and always stressed that Azerbaijanis are hospitable people.