Russian expert: Unification of Azerbaijani and Turkish armies threatens Azerbaijan with loss of sovereignty
The idea of creating a single Azerbaijani-Turkish army is not real, said in an interview with the Azerbaijani news agency "Vesti.az" Russian politician and expert of the Association of Military Political Scientists of Russia Alexander Perendzhiev.
"Creating a unified army of two states supposes the formation of these countries as a single state. It should be a confederation, at least. But are the leaders of Azerbaijan and Turkey ready to accept infringement of their power and sovereignty of their state? Perhaps, it is unlikely, "- said the expert.
He added that the formation of a confederation will already contribute to the fact that Azerbaijan’s problems become problems of Turkey and vice versa. In addition to this it is necessary to create a single economic, legal, cultural and social space. According to the political scientist, neither Azerbaijani nor Turkish society is not ready for such developments.
"Besides that, the union of Baku and Ankara may result in the absorption of Azerbaijan by Turkey, for the latter is a stronger side. Thus the total loss of sovereignty of Azerbaijan will be at a risk," said Alexander Perendzhiev.
According to him, one should not forget about the different political roles of army in Turkey and Azerbaijan as well as the position of the servicemen in the society.
"That is to say, in the end it may happen that there will be no Azerbaijani-Turkish army at all. Instead there will only be a Turkish army, which will include Azerbaijanis! In that case, there is also a strong likelihood that there will be more privates among the Azerbaijanis, and more commanding officers among the Turkish soldiers," says the political scientist.
In addition, he thinks, that another situation will occur concerning the Nagorno-Karabakh issue in case of unification. "Azerbaijani society, which becomes a part of a single state with Turkey and united army of Turkey and Azerbaijan, may also have other problems; that is to say tasks which will be defined in the headquarters of NATO. And in Brussels, they will hardly be concerned about the return of Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan," he said.
"It may happen also that Azerbaijan itself will not exist as a sovereign and independent state," said the expert.
Answering the question of the agency about the "panic of the Armenian media about the possible support of Russia towards Azerbaijan in Karabakh conflict" Perendzhiev noted that the skirmish is held not only on the contact line between Armenian and Azerbaijani troops, but also in the information field.
"I don’t know anything regarding the panic in the official Armenian governmental media. Most likely, if someone spreads such panic rumors, then he does this only to undermine the Armenian society and set it against the present power. And also, in order to separate Russia and Armenia," he said.
The expert expressed confidence that Russia will remain neutral in case of resumption of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, and will take every effort to bring both sides to peace.
Speaking about the probability of war resumption, he noted that "a lot will depend on prudence of the official Baku and Azerbaijani society at large."