Panorama.am

14:33 25/08/06

5000 AZERI SOLDIERS STARVED TO DEATH: INDEPENDENT POLITICAL SCIENTIST

"The allocations made to the Azerbaijani army are aimed to close
the eyes of the public," Levon Melik-Shahnazaryan, an independent
political scientist, told a press conference today. He referred to a
Bulgarian member of parliament who has reportedly said at the European
Parliament that more than 5000 soldiers have died at the Azerbaijani
army since 1994 from starvation and diseases.

In the words of Melik-Shahnazaryan, the allocated funds stay at
the army for one month and after that return to the pocket of the
person who has made them. The political scientist says that the Azeri
leadership is composed of tats. He also says the financial leadership
is made up of kurds and the defense minister is lezgi by nationality.

The political scientist assured that Azerbaijan made a purchase
of weapons costing $900 million from Ukraine and Belarus, which,
he says, is a metal scrap. Melik-Shahnazaryan said the purchased
weapons belonged to Russia and the latter sold to third countries
because they were useless. The dream of Azerbaijan to become a strong
state does not come to reality even at the expense of oil dollars,
Melik-Shahnazaryan said. /Panorama.am/