Yeni Musavat, Azerbaijan
March 26 2011

The Naxcivan clan wants to promote Vahid Aliyev to the post of a minister

Uzeyir Cafarov: If he becomes a minister, the situation in the army
will completely slip out of control

by E. Huseynov

Lt-Gen Vahid Aliyev’s fact-finding mission to the front-line a week
ago and our front-page report that hit the headlines with regard to
his possible promotion to the post of a defence minister have made
military circles anxious.

We asked military expert Uzeyir Cafarov to comment on the issue that
is also being discussed in corridors of the Defence Ministry. If the
presidential aide for security and defence, Vahid Aliyev, is promoted
to the post of the minister, the shameful situation in the army will
further deepen, Uzeyir Cafarov believes.

“Vahid Aliyev has not taken up an arm to defend an inch of the
Azerbaijani lands from the enemy. He is very inexperienced to become a
defence minister. The only reason he was promoted to the rank of a
lieutenant-general is that he was an aide to [former president] Heydar
Aliyev. Irrespective of what is taking place in the army, Vahid Aliyev
is driven by own interests and promote his relatives to higher posts.
He had three men with secondary military education – Elsad Babayev,
Ramiz Tahirov and Rahman Quliyev – promoted to the rank of generals.
Apart from this, Vahid Aliyev has managed to have his brother in a
military service appointed a deputy commander of the Interior Troops
all of sudden. His aim is to have his own men in the leadership of the
army to open his way to the post of the minister. In a nutshell, Vahid
Aliyev is setting up his own group in the army. Instead of helping the
army building process, he is misusing the president’s trust and is
engaged in other activities.”

In a comment on remarks that Vahid Aliyev was on tour to the
front-line to gather compromising Minister Safar Abiyev materials,
Uzeyir Cafarov believes the news is true. He added that the visit was
both travel and the shopping: “His visit to the front-line was to see
his friend [the commander of the Samkir garrison] Rovsan Akbarov, and
to mark the general rank Ramiz Tahirov was bestowed on with his help.

“There happened so many serious incidents in the army, but Vahid
Aliyev has never said a word to this end. Why has he not spoken after
appointment of Mammad Beydullayev, who had been dismissed from the
post of the head of the personnel of the Defence Ministry by Heydar
Aliyev, as chief of the main inspectorate department of the armed
forces?

“Both Vahid Aliyev and Mammad Beydullayev have certificates of the
Karabakh war veterans now. But none of them fought. The foundation to
support the armed forces has not got a head for many years. Why is
Vahid Aliyev not raising this issue? The appointment to this post
should have been made a month after the foundation was set up?
Moreover, they are paid high salaries for their general ranks. With
such a salary, it is possible to pay pensions of 15 experienced
servicemen.”

Uzeyir Cafarov believes Vahid Aliyev is a representative of the
Naxcivan grouping in power. He claims that Deputy Defence Minister
Cingiz Mammadov is also a representative of this group and was
promoted to this post with support of Vasif Talibov, the chairman of
the Naxcivan Supreme Maclis: “I want to note that the Naxcivan clan is
trying to have own representative to be appointed to this post.”

The military expert, who is outspoken critic of Defence Minister Safar
Abiyev, did not hide his negative attitude towards a possible
appointment of Vahid Aliyev to this post: “As compared with Vahid
Aliyev, Safar Abiyev is very knowledgeable and experienced. A possible
appointment of Vahid Aliyev would mean the loss of control over the
situation.”

We are also ready to publish Gen Vahid Aliyev’s position.

[translated from Azeri]

From: A. Papazian