A. Verdiyev didn’t reveal anything unknown to the enemy - Arif Yunus

Military expert and regular on state television channels, Adalat Verdiyev, has been accused of a serious crime—disclosure of military secrets. According to the charge (Article 308 of the Criminal Code), if the accused can prove the disclosure was unintentional, they may face 3 to 7 years in prison. Under aggravating circumstances, the sentence could range from 4 to 8 years.

What’s surprising about the arrest and charges against the expert is that the heights of the mountains and the military facilities located there, which he pointed to in his video recording, are clearly visible with high optical resolution from space or through aerial cameras. Why, then, is the expert being prosecuted?

Arif Yunus, head of the Department of Conflictology and Migration at the Institute for Peace and Democracy, has conducted research on the armed forces of South Caucasus countries. He called the official charges against Verdiyev "laughable" and urged the public to look into the real reasons behind the arrest. Yunus shared his views with Turan.

- Are those claiming that the location of Azerbaijan’s military facilities is secret correct?

-Azerbaijan is a member of the OSCE, and every year the Ministry of Defense (MoD) submits detailed information to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which then forwards it to the OSCE headquarters in Vienna. This information includes the location and composition of Azerbaijan’s armed forces, as well as data on arms and equipment purchased in the previous year, including the seller and cost. All OSCE members are required to do this.

The data isn’t vague. For example, it isn’t enough to indicate the number of soldiers, officers, tanks, planes, or other military equipment. It must specify where each corps is located, the number of soldiers and officers there, and details about military bases, such as the specific types and numbers of aircraft stationed at the airbase in Kurdamir. Geographical coordinates of airfields must also be provided to allow OSCE members to verify the information from space. This information is then published and easily accessible. At one point, I even planned to publish a book about the armed forces of the South Caucasus using this data.

So, countries—including Armenia—are already well aware of the numbers and locations of Azerbaijan’s armed forces through official MoD data! Additionally, European observers stationed on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border use modern equipment connected to satellite intelligence, receiving precise information about the Azerbaijani army’s positions along the border and in Karabakh.

This is the 21st century, and the concepts of “state secret” and “espionage” have changed, focusing more on military technology than on information about locations. That’s why it’s intriguing to uncover the real reason for Verdiyev’s arrest, as he is someone considered entirely loyal to the authorities.

- You mentioned OSCE documents. Are military secrets published in media accessible to the public?

- To clarify, let me recall a real story. In 1999, Leyla Yunus and I decided to demonstrate the absurdity of such accusations and simultaneously test public awareness. She held a press conference where she detailed the size of the Azerbaijani army, providing exact figures but withholding sources, implying they were her own. Judging by the shocked expressions of journalists, not everyone dared to publish the data. A few did, but they quickly called us to say they were summoned by the Prosecutor General’s Office and threatened with prosecution for disclosing state secrets.

A week later, she held another press conference, placing a large stack of books in English and Russian before her. She explained that these books were officially published, openly sold, and were the source of her data. She concluded by showing a book published in Baku titled The Armenian-Azerbaijani Conflict: The Military Aspect, authored by Colonel Jangir Arasly, an assistant to the Azerbaijani Minister of Defense. This book contained the exact figures she had shared at the previous press conference.