Azerbaijan's "delivery" of Afghan mujahids to Georgia is possible and even logical

PanARMENIAN.Net - The publication on Real Azerbaijan website is very interesting, especially in the light of close military and strategic ties between Georgia and Azerbaijan, an Armenian expert said.



"The editor-in-chief of Real Azerbaijan, Eynullah Fatulayev has been in prison for a long time, his newspaper has been banned. Taking into account the pressure of some European countries to release or mitigate his sentence, this publication may turn out a canard for his absolute discredit in order to deprive him of any chance of amnesty dated to Heydar Aliyev's 85th birthday," Eduard Abrahamyan, expert at Mitq analytical center told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.



"Azerbaijan's "delivery" of Afghan mujahids to Georgia is possible and even logical. No one should forget that during the Karabakh war, Azerbaijan hired militants from various countries, including thousands of mujahids from Afghanistan and Pakistan. Besides, continuing recruitment of former military throughout the CIS has become a good tradition for Azerbaijan," he added.



"As to Georgia, it can accept friendly assistance for the purpose to bring to minimum its losses in hostilities against Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Moreover, Georgia thinks over the possibility of formation of separate military units consisting of representatives of national minorities, including Armenians and Azeris, who will first of all be thrown into the bloody mess," he concluded.



It's worth mentioning that on May 4, 2008, Real Azerbaijan newspaper posted on its website an article titled "Will Azerbaijanis help Georgia?" (http://realazer.at.ua/news/2008-05-04-365), telling about the possibility of Azerbaijan's military assistance to Georgia in case of war against Abkhazia. Meanwhile, a relevant publication by PanARMENIAN.Net aroused hysteria in Baku.



Real Azerbaijan's website was removed from the server.



However, PanARMENIAN.Net brings to the readers' attention the screenshot of the website and a reference in Google.



The article that aroused Azerbaijan's confusion says in part,



"Azerbaijan intends to assist Georgia in resolving its territorial problems.



For the purpose, Baku-Kabul flights suspended in March 2008 will be resumed. Trained Afghan mujahids and large lots of weapons are expected to be airlifted to Azerbaijan and then to Georgia, Real Azerbaijan website reports.



According to preliminary data, some 500 Afghan commandos trained in British camps will arrive in Georgia. In operation against Abkhazia and South Ossetia, they will use weapons received from their British sponsors, thus protecting Azerbaijan from "coming into the spotlight."



Reliable sources report that Azeris are being recruited in Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine and several other states with numerous Azeri diaspora.



The recruitment is conducted under supervision of "Azerbaycan Diasporasi" chairman Fikret Veliyev, chairman of Murmansk division of the All-Russian Azerbaijani Congress Rafik Badirov, president of federal national and cultural autonomy of Azeris of Russia Sayun Sadykov. Not only ordinary Azeris but also students of Moscow and Kyiv universities are recruited.



Head of the department of political studies of the Azerbaijani presidential administration Fuad Akhundov and chief of the division of foreign policy planning and strategic studies at the Azeri MFA Tofik Musayev have been commissioned to coordinate the Azeri diaspora's work.



1.5-2 thousand prisoners, who committed grave crimes, will be granted amnesty on occasion of Heydar Aliyev's 85th birthday. It's expected that half of them will be sent to Georgia as well.



The process of Azeri units' formation was speeded up after Russian heavy artillery, weapons and equipment and additional troops crossed Georgia's state border."