"THEY OPEN UP ON EACH OTHER AT THE FIRST OPPORTUNITY"
R. Orujev
Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
Source: Ekho (Baku), August 3, 2007, EV
August 8, 2007 Wednesday
Azerbaijani Military Expert Comments On The Situation On The Front
And Losses Sustained By The Warring Sides
Azerbaijani military experts call the cease-fire regime a pure
formality neither side attaches any importance to.
Practically all news bulletins these days include numerous reports on
violations of the cease-fire regime on the front line. The Armenian
army broke the truce more than once and on several parts of the front
on July 31 and August 1 – and particularly often on the territories
of the Agdam and Terter districts.
Why the Armenians become active in scorching summer heat is anybody’s
guess but lives are lost as a result. Aslan Aliyev of the National
Army of Azerbaijan was killed in the Agdam district on August 1.
The APA news agency in the meantime published its own lists of
cease-fire regime violations and Azerbaijani casualties this year.
How precise and unbiased the estimates are is not known. Moreover,
Armenian media outlets report practically no casualties near the
front line, and that leaves the impression that it is only personnel
of the Azerbaijan army that are taken out by sharpshooters.
The Press Center of the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry declines comment.
Uzeir Jafarov, military expert and member of the Officer Union,
agreed to meet with this correspondent and share his views on the
matter. "The Officer Union is keeping tabs on the Azerbaijani losses.
So is the Defense Ministry, for that matter, because every casualty
report from COs and their chiefs-of-staff is forwarded to the
Personnel Directorate where the estimates are made. I would not call
APA estimates particularly correct. Estimates of casualties are more or
less correct but not the estimates of gunshot wounds that are grossly
underestimated. As for casualties, the difference in estimates comes
down to several deaths only. That’s because the Defense Ministry
only confirms the casualties that become known to general public
courtesy of journalists. And yet, not every death becomes known
to media outlets. According to what information we have compiled,
several more died of Armenian bullets than was reported.
These include both officers and warrant officers. Getting exact
information on them from the Defense Ministry is impossible–I don’t
know why. Even COs try to keep deaths secret because every episode
may cost them their careers and even freedom," Jafarov said.
"Neither am I particularly happy with the reports made by the Military
Prosecutor General’s Office," the expert continued. "Toting up the
first half of the year not long ago, military prosecutor general
said the figures were down compared to what had been reported in the
first half of 2006. They are not down, it’s just that the Military
Prosecutor General’s Office is not advised of every episode."
According to Jafarov, "The cease-fire regime is unfortunately a
formality because servicemen open up on each other at the first
opportunity. Skirmishes take place literally every day but the Defense
Ministry does not always report or confirm them. It only reports them
to promote some political or other interests – or on the orders from
the political masters when representatives of international structures
visit Azerbaijan or Armenia."
"It will be wrong to assume that the Azerbaijanis alone sustain
losses," Jafarov said. "Seiran Shahsuvanjan, Press Secretary of the
Armenian Defense Ministry, confirmed the death of a major of the
Armenian army. It was a month and half ago, or so. There were other
episodes too. It would therefore be wrong and unfair to assume that
the Armenians sustain no losses at all. Unlike our leaders, however,
the Armenian leadership must have made a deal with the local media
and tries to keep casualties a secret. If I’m not mistaken, Armenian
media outlets did publish the statistics for 2006 and even gave
names. They lost over 30 men in all. It was data from their Defense
Ministry I think."