Commander of Russian Military Base in Armenia Threatens Azerbaijan

It appears that the Azerbaijani government concerned about the fate of Orkhan Zeynalov finally lost landmarks, and their statements about defending the national interests look ridiculous.

Last week the Foreign Ministry, Parliament, Attorney General, Embassy of Azerbaijan in Moscow and many others were just so busy defending the national dignity of Azerbaijanis in Russia. It seems that for all of these and other state agencies dealing with Orkhan Zeynalov acquired such importance that they have lost the ability to see and hear anything else.

If it were otherwise, our diplomats, politicians and statesmen could not miss the scandalous performance by the commander of the 102nd Russian military base in Armenia Andrei Ruzinsky.

In an interview with the newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda yet on October 10 this colonel said:

"The military-political situation in the zone of responsibility of the military base is restless and is characterized by a number of destabilizing factors associated with the possibility of an escalation of conflict in the region - the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. In the case of the management's decision to restore the jurisdiction of Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh by force the military base may enter into an armed conflict in accordance with the contractual obligations of the Russian Federation within the framework of the CSTO."

And how did the official Baku react to this and did the embassy in Moscow submit a note to the Russian Foreign Ministry?

Yes, they responded - they gave two notes demanding to ensure the rights of Orkhan Zeynalov.

As experience shows, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry and other agencies respond rapidly to negative reports about violations of human rights and democracy, and also the criticism of the ruling family and corruption in the country.

It is a priority of the government. And it turns out that the threat of a foreign country to use military force against Azerbaijan is not such an important phenomenon to react to it - that is, the issue is not a priority.

It is very interesting that the statement of Colonel Ruzinsky was not disavowed by the Defense Ministry of Russia, though the head of the Collective Security Treaty Organization has repeatedly said that Nagorno-Karabakh is not a zone of CSTO responsibility, as de jure it is a territory of Azerbaijan.

As for the military's 102nd military base in Armenia, it includes 13 main combat units and 17 units of comprehensive support. It includes SAM battalions C- 300B, SAM Buk -M1-2, a reactive battery Tornado and air bases with a squadron of MiG -29.

The number of troops by some estimates is about 3,000 people and it continues to grow.

In the course of joint exercises with units of Armenian Armed Forces this year they worked out combat operations management, reflection attack, counter-attack on the retreating enemy, etc.

According to the same Ruzinsky, it is planned to strengthen the air base at the airport in Erebuni - close to the MiG -29 and post war military transport helicopters. The entire package of bilateral documents required has been signed, the colonel said. -02D-