Russian intelligence actively works in Azerbaijan even without Zuyev - expert

The conflict between the Russian Foreign Ministry and the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, caused by the reluctance of Elmar Mammadyarov's department to issue agrement, that is, to recognize the authority of Georgy Zuyev, appointed in Russia to the post of Russian Ambassador to Azerbaijan, has reached a deadlock, there are no new decisions yet.

The press service of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry does not explain the situation to the juralists. Efforts of Turan to find out the reason for the refusal to provide the agronomist were futile. There is only a version put forward by one of the media: Baku does not accept Zuyev because of his pro-Armenian position.

Former Azerbaijani diplomat Arif Mammadov regarded the current situation, or more precisely the release of such an extremely sensitive issue to the press as the refusal to issue an agronomist to the ambassador, an extremely unfriendly step on the part of Azerbaijan," even a provocation that can severely damage bilateral relations." In diplomatic practice, when there are friendly relations between countries and the host party does not agree with the submitted candidature, the issue is solved in a "quiet" regime. It is usually enough that ministers simply talk would be on the phone," Mammadov said.

In the history of Zuyev there are a number of interesting features. On the Internet there is not any information about this high-ranking diplomat, except his last official position - deputy head of the human resources department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. There is not even a picture of Zuyev. His pro-Armenian position did not manifest itself anywhere. As if there was not this person. Hence the version that Zuyev worked in the FSB or another Russian intelligence service, that means he is a public person who is closed to the public, and having resigned (now he is 59 years old) has been appointed to the post of deputy head of the Foreign Ministry's Human Resources Department. The position and duties of the personnel officer in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs directly overlap with the responsibility of Russian intelligence services.

If so, they know about the real profession of Zuyev in the Azerbaijani government, and do not want to agree with his appointment as Russia's ambassador to Azerbaijan, so as not to increase the activity of intelligence services in our country, especially on the eve of the presidential elections in 2018.

Why is the Azerbaijani government unwilling to recognize Zuyev's representative powers? With this question, Turan turned to the retired scout, the former officer of the operating reserve of the PGU (First Main Directorate of the KGB of the USSR - external intelligence) of the KGB of the USSR, who repeatedly went abroad as secretary of the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Awarded with the sign "30 years of impeccable service." The expert insisted on the non-disclosure of his name, as his interview to the news agency is contrary to corporate ethics.

According to the agreement, the CIS countries do not conduct reconnaissance against each other. There are security officers, which are official officers of special services, they also communicate with local authorities, "the expert replied. The ambassador can not be an intelligence officer, since there is a conflict of interests between the Foreign Ministry and in this case the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service. Of course, not any CIS country is in compliance with this agreement. In states, the diplomatic rank of a resident may be different, but usually not lower than an adviser. In countries such as the United States, the Federal Republic of Germany and a number of other residents are usually in the rank of generals. In Austria - a country with a favorable intelligence climate, and where the intelligence staff is more than half the staffing of the diplomatic corps, the resident was also a general before. As for Zuyev, the rejection of the agreement sounds unconvincing, except that this is an agreed-upon action aimed at striking Lavrov-Kalantarov ...

Asked about the reason for the absence of information on Zuyev's diplomatic career on the Internet, and whether this indicates his professional closeness, the expert said that it is advantageous for an intelligence officer working under a legal cover, specifically under the "diplomatic roof", to have an open biography. The longer his career history, the better for a scout. "For this reason, there should not any closeness about his biography, and it's possible that Zuyev was recently brought "under the diplomatic roof" , and for this reason there is no history of his diplomatic work. As for intelligence work in the embassy, ​​the special services of the explored countries, as a rule, immediately first of all, because he comes to replace the same position on which his predecessor worked before (and to change positions through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs taking into account mutual hostility between the Foreign Ministry and special services - the trouble), and then , the specifics of the work of the secret intelligence agent are somewhat different from the "pure" diplomat. As for strengthening the work of Russian special services in Azerbaijan, I think that the work of Russian intelligence officers in our country is not so weak, because by agreement the CIS countries do not work against each other - there are not official residences. Although for this reason there are embassies to collect the information about the country," the expert added.

On November 27, Russian media reported that Dorokhin had been recalled from the post of Russian Ambassador to Azerbaijan by President Putin's decree. In July 2017, the Deputy Director of the Personnel Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Envoy of the 2nd class Zuyev Georgy Viktorovich was appointed to this post in the State Duma of the Russian Federation. On the same day, one of the Azerbaijani media reported with reference to a source in the Russian Foreign Ministry that the Azerbaijani side had not issued an agrement, that is, the agreement to consider Zuyev as Russia's ambassador to Azerbaijan. As a justification, his expressed pro-Armenian position is given.