Baku buys another expensive toy, this time F-16

PanARMENIAN.Net - One such fighter costs $ 20-70 million. In principle, it’s already a year Baku has been spending an abundance of funds on weapons, so it’s not a big deal for her to buy such aircraft. But there is one important fact: Azerbaijan cannot buy these aircraft from the U.S. due to restrictions. Neither do the NATO countries have the right to transfer or sell weapons, military equipment and aircraft to conflicting countries, except for Georgia. So, only Turkey is left, or any other country, for example, Israel, with which Azerbaijan holds better relations than with Turkey. But the question is why Azerbaijan needs these fighters. Do they serve as means of psychological pressure and intimidation against Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh? Azerbaijani leadership should long have realized that this kind of “horror stories” have no effect on Armenia. Neither on Iran, although military expert Jasur Sumerinli believes that American experts are already attracted by the Azerbaijani side to modernize the military airfield in the village Tagiyev. He also believes that the purchase of F-16s is in the interests of Azerbaijan and the aircraft are not directed against Iran, but they are to ensure the security of energy resources of Azerbaijan on the Caspian Sea. This kind of explanations are worthless, because, as you know, F-16 is an offensive weapon, which if necessary, can be successfully applied both against Iran and Nagorno Karabakh. But an important question arises: who will be flying these aircraft? Of course, Azeri pilots can be trained, but given the level of general training of Azerbaijani Armed Forces, it may take too long. Let us not forget that only recently have Azerbaijani snipers learned to shoot to kill. But, in general, if Ilham Aliyev wants to waste money on expensive equipment, let him do so. The only concern is that there will come a time when this weapon may shoot, and it’s then that Armenia and the whole region will have to worry.

Baku longs not for the return of Nagorno-Karabakh, but for annexation of South Azerbaijan, and in this respect, a war with Iran is essential. Establishment of a new Azerbaijan with a population of over 30 million can seriously affect the balance of power in the region; that is why Aliyev will not be allowed to materialize his dreams. This applies to restrictions both in purchase of arms and in their production. According to Sumerinli, in May 2011 a memorandum of intentions was signed between an American company, whose name is not disclosed, and the Ministry of Defence Industry of Azerbaijan. “Under the agreement, the company was to produce in Azeri factories various weapons and ammunition for further transit to Iraq and Afghanistan. Americans calculated that it would be more profitable to produce weapons in Azerbaijan, rather than transport them from the U.S.. However, the agreement was terminated on the grounds that the customer was dissatisfied with the quality of output produced in Azerbaijan,” the Azeri expert said.

Various kinds of propagandistic and militaristic statements that appear in the media before the scheduled meeting of the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan mediated by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev have long become a tradition in Azerbaijan; accordingly, no one pays any attention to them. The main thing for the U.S. and the West in general, together with Russia, is to prevent the realization of Aliyev’s ideas on a united Azerbaijan and to curb Iran's nuclear program. The reverse order is also feasible.