Sergei Minasyan: Baku with all its might tries to requite for defeat in Karabakh war
The concept of Azerbaijani national and defense doctrine is West-oriented. To be more precise, it heads for Turkey, said Sergei Minasyan, head of the political studies department at the Caucasus Institute.
"Azerbaijan follows the model of Turkish armed forces with all its advantages and shortcomings. Defense Minister Safar Abiyev is the only military man, who occupies a ministerial post throughout the CIS. Army gains weight in Azerbaijan. However, Baku shouldn't forget that the army has numerously led Turkey to political crises since 1960-ies," Minasyan said during Caucasus 2007 international conference in Yerevan.
Touching upon lively cooperation between Azerbaijan and NATO, Mr Minasyan said, "NATO stakes on Turkey and Israel. Now, the Azeri armed forces are re-armed with Israel-made weapons. Besides, Azerbaijan supposes to spend $66 million on defense industry. It's natural that Baku with all its might tries to requite for defeat in Karabakh war. Anyway, the concept of complete revanche never justifies itself and armament race can't prove helpful."