Organized, planned provocations are being carried out against the Azerbaijan Army

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Question: It was announced that the dissemination of unofficial photos and videos by some users of social networks related to the recent military operations on the state border is of serious concern to the leadership of the Ministry of Defense. According to the ministry, as a result of the measures carried out by the command of the Azerbaijan Army, it was decided to resign a group of servicemen who committed such actions in gross violation of the secrecy regime. For a legal assessment of their actions, the collected materials were sent to law enforcement agencies. What do you think is going on? Do you think such steps are adequate?

Ərəstun Oruclu

Answer: First of all, double punishment of servicemen for the same violation (resignation and sending materials about them to law enforcement agencies) speaks not only of the illogical and inadequate punishment, but also of some other motives. It seems to me that behind such a harsh punishment of our servicemen lies not the strengthening of discipline in the army or the protection of any secrecy regime, but the exposure of the failed organization of the indicated hostilities. In general, what happened after the Second Karabakh War, or rather, the steps taken against the army, must be seriously analyzed, deeply studied, and this is not only about the border conflict that you mentioned. As I said, it seems that after the 44-day war, someone took the path of suppression, discrediting the victorious army, punishing as many servicemen as possible. The intentions and goals of this must certainly be clarified. The video recordings of the latest conflict on a specific border show the extremely unprofessional organization of the operation, which apparently caused concern among the high command. We are talking about a level of non-professionalism that can be seen not only by military experts, but even those who have served in the army as privates. Therefore, first of all, it is necessary to investigate the causes of the death of 7 of our servicemen and the injury of ten. I have an unambiguous position on all these issues, and I have repeatedly openly expressed this position. As a person who has deeply studied the absolute majority of what is happening in the army from the moment of the assassination of the commander of the Air Force Lieutenant General Rail Rzayev in 2009 to the latest events, I can say with full confidence that organized, systematic provocations have been conducted against the Azerbaijani Army for many years. which, by their nature, resemble signs of hybrid warfare. The worst thing is that although they talk about this for years, months, talking about the tragedies and atrocities committed against hundreds of servicemen in the so-called "Terter case", the Ministry of Defense is silent like a stone. Why?

The answer to this question lies in the terrible crimes that the same military men speak of. It means that everything that became known to the public is true, and therefore the state and the government have nothing to say. And above all, the Ministry of Defense. But everyone who is involved in this crime, who must investigate it and identify the perpetrators, must speak up. Today they must speak up and answer all accusations. The army belongs to the people, those who serve in it are the children of this people, and at least for this reason, instead of hiding like a bat, they should appear before the people and answer all questions and accusations.

Question: Recently, the military prosecutor Khanlar Veliyev told reporters about the initiation of criminal cases against some servicemen for their incompetence during the Second Karabakh war. What does it mean? Do you think that the persons against whom the criminal case has been initiated are really incompetent or there are also suspicious moments in this matter?

Answer: As a person familiar with the biography of Khanlar Veliyev, with all his activities as a military prosecutor, first of all, I must say that the stay of such a person in this post until today is not only a triumph of lawlessness and arbitrariness, but and a serious threat to the Azerbaijani Army, state and people. All the activities of this man and the structure headed by him consisted in suppressing the army, and therefore it is not by chance that he is mentioned among the main persons involved in both the "Terter case" and the defeat of the Navy and other provocations. What Veliyev said in his famous statement is quite enough to initiate a criminal case against him. Let me remind you that Khanlar Veliyev said that before the military prosecutor's office joined the investigation of the "Terter case", 1 person died. However, the names and dates of the deaths of at least 11 soldiers killed in this case are known.

After such a statement, this person should have asked the question - how and when were the remaining 10 people killed? This question should have been asked by the investigators who were conducting the investigation, but, as we see, thanks to high patrons, Khanlar Veliyev not only remains in his post, but also continues his dirty deeds. As for the criminal cases he voiced, here we are talking about an accusation so vague that it can be used against a commander of any level. This is exactly what Khanlar Veliyev's group is doing to keep the army under threat and to take large-scale bribes through intimidation.

Question: In one of your statuses, you wrote: "Many thought that after the 44-day war, provocations in the army would stop, but today we see the complete opposite of this." On what basis did you write this? Has someone started a "spy hunt" again? And those who go on this hunt will expose the spies, whose identity everyone guesses, or will events like the "Terter case" repeat again?

Answer: I not only wrote the status, but also repeatedly stated this in various interviews. Today it is already quite obvious that if after the Second Karabakh war we had not returned the “Terter massacre” to a much more active agenda, another, even more large-scale “Terter case” would have been committed. They have already started this, and for this very reason, personally, I was forced to return to this topic, which I began to study in 2017. The return of the terrorist crime to the agenda forced its organizers to change their tactics, since the "hunt for spies" had already become impossible. However, the strategy remained. As I said, the strategy is to crush the army, reduce its combat effectiveness, turn a victorious army into a defeated formation.

This is one of the components of the hybrid war I talked about. Therefore, arrests began in the army, after which the conqueror of Shushi, Colonel Tehran Mansimov, was dismissed, then having removed him from the SSP (Special Forces), he was returned to another structure. He was eventually transferred to the Presidential Security Service. The result is this: the legendary commander of the SSP no longer serves in the army.

Another example: at the beginning of 2019, a year and a half after the "Terter case" was completed through trumped-up criminal cases, unfounded court sentences, or rather on November 9, 2020, the military prosecutor's office "remembered" Major Ziya Kazimov, who was wounded in battles. He was taken out of the hospital and arrest was chosen by the military prosecutor's office as a last resort. Although not a single person was charged with incitement to suicide for the murders committed in Tartar, a case was brought against Ziya Kazimov under this very article. I am not saying that Ziya Kazimov is innocent, but I ask why they "remembered" about him immediately after the victory of the Azerbaijani Army? I can list dozens of such cases, each of which individually, in its absolute majority, has no signs of legality and logic, but if you analyze them together, you can see clear traces of activities dangerous for the country.

Question: What is the purpose of those who do this?

Answer: The goal is to destroy the Azerbaijani state and its army by fulfilling the orders of the special services or other bodies of foreign countries, in this case Russia. The purpose of the crime of terror and all other crimes committed against the army is one - to crush the army, humiliate the people, make them lose faith in their strength, instill in them defeatist moods, a complex of national inferiority and thereby shake the foundations of the Azerbaijani state. The Azerbaijani state today is in the center of a great geopolitical struggle, and the warring parties are waging this struggle according to their own rules - naturally through their agent networks. At the end of 2017, I wrote that this was an intelligence operation, and the events that took place in other countries, especially the handwriting with which they were carried out, fully confirmed what I said. The crimes committed by separatist terrorists of the DPR in Ukraine against the Ukrainian military with the participation of agents of the FSB of Russia, torture to the smallest detail are a repetition of the "Terter case". Not so long ago, when discussing images of similar monstrous acts committed in three penitentiary institutions in Russia, it was confirmed that they were commissioned by FSB agents. That is, everyone has their own handwriting, and what happened in Terter is the handwriting of Russia. Therefore, this issue, first of all, should be investigated by the country's security agencies, but for this there should be an appropriate political decision. Apparently, there is no such decision.

Question: Why don't those who do this say: "Stop!"?  Can't cope with them or is this form of management beneficial to everyone? What needs to be done to stop them?

Answer: I have already said - in order to say "stop!" a political decision is needed, and for such a decision there must be a political will. But, so far, none of this is visible. The reasons can be different - from the fear of criminals before their patrons to internal political reasons. But, if someone, as you say, believes that these methods can be controlled, then he should think about the possible consequences. Not only about the possibility of achieving positive results in this way, but also about the possible severe consequences of this. And the consequences will certainly be. If, despite the fact that the bloody crime committed against the army was committed about 5 years ago, but this issue is still on the agenda, then this is worth seriously considering. As for stopping them, if the political power does not do it, then it can be done by the people who have turned their backs on it, or by thousands of servicemen who have become victims of terror, violence and torture. But in this case, the people will not be with a government that does not want to expose this bloody crime, to punish the guilty. In conclusion, I will say this: The political reality in Azerbaijan is that the government means one person - Ilham Aliyev. Therefore, he must make the decision. And Ilham Aliyev is still silent. As if so, many crimes were committed not in the country of which he is the president and not against the army, where he is the Supreme Commander.