RELIABLE PEOPLE SHOULD BE APPOINTED TO STRATEGIC POSTS – AZERI EXPERT

Day.az, azerbaijan
Feb 4 2008

"Vafa Quluzada: `Reliable people should work at strategic facilities
of Azerbaijan, otherwise, spy scandals will occur constantly’"

4 February: A Day.az interview with political expert and former state
adviser on foreign policy issues, Vafa Quluzada.

[Correspondent] How would you comment on accusations, both official
and unofficial, of former Azerbaijani officials of collaboration with
the Russian special service?

[Quluzada] The presence of special service agents of foreign states,
moreover, in such an important country like Azerbaijan is natural.

And there is nothing surprising that the Russian intelligence service
works on the territory of our republic.

The surprising is other thing. The Azerbaijani authorities have not to
appoint pro-Russian people, who have studied in the Russian Federation
or those connected with Russia this or that way, to key posts. Similar
problems will emerge permanently if such people are staked on.

Airports, stations, post-offices, medical institutions these are
facilities of heightened interest of foreign special services, and
therefore, issues of selecting personnel for those facilities have
to be paid extraordinarily much attention.

[Correspondent] Nevertheless, information accusing officers of the
security service of the Baku airport and the Azerbaijani National
Security Ministry appeared practically straight away after it was made
public that the former head of the Azerbaijani permanent mission at the
UN, Eldar Quliyev, collaborated with the Russian special service. Do
you think these are mere fortuity?

[Quluzada] However that may be, Azerbaijan is becoming more independent
and is obliged to protect own interests. In addition to this, the USA
is a partner of Azerbaijan and they are interested that the Russian
special service not act wilfully in our republic.

Therefore, we can expect support in this sphere from the United States
and Israel, that is to say, their special services can cooperate with
Azerbaijan in order to protect not only our but also their secrets
connected with ours.

[Correspondent] What would the Russian intelligence service be
interested in Azerbaijan first of all?

[Quluzada] As I already said, Azerbaijan is of great interest for the
Russian special service. Even after the demise of the Soviet Union and
the departure of Azerbaijan from the direct sphere of influence of the
Kremlin, the Russian intelligence has not suspended its activities
here. In particular, Moscow is interested in the development of our
relations with the USA and NATO, the prospects of joining Azerbaijan
to the North Atlantic alliance, the possibility of deployment of
NATO military bases in the republic. I think that the Azerbaijani
special service should also strive for bugging conversations of the
Russian leadership. It would be interesting to find out what Vladimir
Putin is going to do with the Azerbaijani occupied lands. After all,
we all know that not in the least Armenia has occupied Karabakh but
the Russian army. It would also be better what instructions Vladimir
Putin gives to [Armenian Prime Minister] Serzh Sargsyan regarding
Nagornyy Karabakh. One way or another, without deviating from our
main subject, I would recommend the Azerbaijani authorities to check
all strategic facilities, their personnel, who might be of interest
for the Russian special service.

The war of special services continues and we have to learn a lesson
from the latest incident.

[Correspondent] Is any reciprocal demarche possible by Russia?

[Quluzada] What would a demarche give? The matter is that we have
to try to appoint to key posts people who will protect secrets and
interests of the state, nationalists, and people devoted to their
national ideals, and not those who serve national ideals of foreign
states.

[Correspondent] In any case, very recently, after a spy scandal,
Latvia and Russia declared some diplomats persona non grata.

[Quluzada] Right, but in this case, those arrested are not the
Russian diplomats but the Azerbaijani officers spying for the Russian
intelligence.

[Correspondent] I mean, is it possible to "suddenly" appear people
exposed on charges of spying for Azerbaijan after the success of the
Azerbaijani special service?

[Quluzada] No, one should not expect this to happen. Anyway, it would
be another case, if a Russian diplomat were, who recruited the people
arrested in Azerbaijan or received and gave information, expelled.

What would do Russia in response is only known to the Russian
leadership.