We Just Waste Our Time - Uzeyir Jafarov

Colonel-lieutenant of the reserve of the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan, Uzeyir Jafarov recently appealed through social networks to journalists of Azerbaijan with a request not to publish the opinions of ‘experts’ far from the army and not to yield to the propaganda cunning of Armenians, reprinting news from Yerevan media. Not everything that happens in the Azerbaijani army can be opened to the public, and not everything that the Armenians boast about exists in reality, he wrote.

In an interview with Turan, Jafarov commented on the latest developments concerning the Karabakh conflict.

Thus, referring to the appointment of the former chief of the General Staff of the Armenian Troops Yuri Khachaturov the Secretary General of CSTO, he noted that the appointment of Khachaturov was a surprise, for he had shown himself very badly during the April events of 2016, being completely at a loss.

CSTO itself is an amorphous organization and for all its existence it has never shown itself in the space of the former Union, despite the large number of conflicts in this territory.

If the Armenians believe that CSTO will intervene, when Azerbaijan launches an anti-terrorist operation against the separatists, then this will not happen. Belarus, Kazakhstan and other countries will not support this. Therefore, the question of the role of CSTO in Karabakh is closed. The appointment of Khachaturov as Secretary General of CSTO from Armenia does not change anything.

What can be said about deliveries of Iskander missiles, Verba surface-to-air missile systems and other weapons and equipment, including air defense systems, to the Armenian side? Does this mean that the probability of returning Karabakh to Azerbaijan is close to zero?

Jafarov said that Armenian generals have been saying for more than ten years that they are ready to strike strategic targets like Mingechevir HPP, the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and others. They have repeatedly threatened to destroy Baku and reach the Kura, and one of these figures frightened Azerbaijan with Armenian-made nuclear weapons.

 But these people forget that from Yerevan to Baku or even to Mingechevir the distance is much more than from Nakhchivan to the capital of Armenia. There are only 43 kilometers. Missile complexes Gasyrga will destroy Yerevan before their missiles reach Baku. Azerbaijan also has modern air defense systems capable of intercepting Armenian missiles.

In the April war of 2016, all witnessed the "combat qualities" of the most powerful army in the Caucasus, as the Armenians called themselves. Scaled facts of corruption revealed that they did not have gasoline for tanks and other equipment, and there were no means of communication and even helmets for their soldiers. But until 2016, even more "terrible warnings" came from Yerevan.

What is the hope for a peaceful settlement?

To this Jafarov gave a pessimistic answer. The OSCE and the Minsk Group have long exhausted themselves, and counting on their mediation means simply wasting time, Jafarov said. -0-