Paper says Azerbaijan, NATO disagree on military standards
Ayna, Baku
13 Apr 05
Excerpt from C. Sumarinli report by Azerbaijani newspaper Ayna on 13
April headlined “Discord between Azerbaijan and NATO” and subheaded
“Official Baku insists on preserving part of Soviet standards in army
building”
“Official Baku does not agree with some of the reforms in the
Individual Partnership Action Plan [IPAP] with NATO. The Azerbaijani
leadership wants to preserve some peculiarities of the military
standards of the former USSR and Russia in army building,” a source in
the [Azerbaijani] Ministry of Defence told Ayna on conditions of
anonymity.
Thus, the Azerbaijani leadership insists on preserving Soviet
standards mainly in military training, staff management, disciplinary
regulations and other legal documents. There have also been divergent
views between Baku and Brussels on the unification of relevant defence
entities and development of democratic civic control mechanisms in the
army as part of the IPAP.
As far as we know, this is the reason both sides have been delaying
the approval of the IPAP, which envisages bringing the Azerbaijani
army into conformity with NATO standards. Consultations are under way
in this regard, in which the parties are trying to eliminate
disagreements, a source in the Foreign Ministry said.
Earlier, the press service of the Ministry of Defence indirectly
confirmed that there is disagreement between Azerbaijan and
NATO. I. Verdiyev from the press service told Ayna that useful
features of Soviet standards would be preserved in the process of
shifting to NATO standards.
Experts believe that Baku’s current position in relation to NATO is
dangerous in terms of Azerbaijan’s strategic interests. Discord
between NATO and Azerbaijan in army building may deal a serious blow
to the defence area of our country, a source from the Doktrina centre
of military research of journalists said.
“The bulk of Azerbaijan’s military legislation has been copied from
military documents of the former USSR and Russia. This is why there is
a strange situation in military units now. Some units prefer NATO
standards and some prefer Soviet standards. In some units, however,
daily disciplinary regulations are defined at the discretion of the
unit commander and do not correspond to any standards. It means that
if war starts, the command of one military unit will not be understood
by the other,” Doktrina experts said. They also noted that the main
documents of action being used in the Azerbaijani armed forces are
characterized as temporary.
Official Baku’s stand is creating obstacles to Azerbaijan’s
integration into NATO and Euratlantic entities, while Armenia, which
keeps our lands under occupation, is increasing its chances, the
experts said.
[Passage omitted: details of Armenia’s cooperation with NATO]
The final version of Azerbaijan’s national security concept and
military doctrine will be ready in summer, the Azerbaijani
presidential aide on military issues, Vahid Aliyev, said a while ago.
“We are developing a security concept and military doctrine on the
president’s instruction taking into account in the first place
international experience and Azerbaijan’s interests,” he
stressed. German, US and British specialists have also been involved
in developing a military doctrine reflecting Azerbaijan’s
military-political strategy in the region, he said.
Ayna has learnt that the adoption of Azerbaijan’s national security
concept and military doctrine may be delayed, because official Baku is
still hesitating to make a strategic choice and also because this
choice is the guideline of the doctrine and national security concept.