Defense Minister of AR: Azerbaijan conducted by scientists violates the provisions of the Vienna Document"
In Azerbaijan, on February 2 a large-scale military exercises kicked off involving all types of troops. They involved 15,000 personnel and five thousand reservists, reports the press service of the Defense Ministry of Azerbaijan, without providing further information on the venue and timing of the exercise.
Armenian military-analytical site "Razm.info” http://razm.info/ru/6151 in its turn sent a request to the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia for information on the military exercises. The respons received from the ministry was that the Azerbaijani side was obliged to inform about those exercises till November 15, 2014, which was not done, therefore, Azerbaijan in this way violates the "Vienna Document" signed by him.
As stated in the RA Ministry of Defense, it is the Decision №9 /12 "Advance notice of major military activities" signed on 17 October 2012 at the Forum for Security Co-operation of the OSCE, which is aimed at complementing the Vienna Document of 2011. Later, in accordance with the paragraphs 46, 46.1 and 46.2 of the Vienna Document of 2011, between the participating countries was signed a notification by the format of F30 by which the sides are obliged to notify about the largest military exercises planned for next year, regardless of the established thresholds, "as it was done by the Republic of Armenia November on 7, 2014 (HP-11, Chapter 7, paragraph 66) by the notification format F30."
The Azerbaijani military experts started to comment on the situation, avoiding to directly mention the violation of the “Vienna Document" by the Azerbaijani side.
In particular, military expert Uzeir Jafarov was interviewed by the correspondent of the "Caucasian Knot" and noted that "No one should be surprised by the exercises of Azerbaijan." According to him, the involvement of the reservists in military exercises, including officer personnel of Azerbaijani Armed Forces, is important for working out an ASAP actions with the reserved troops "in case of resumption of hostilities with Armenia." However, the expert did not rule out that the exercises are carried out in the area, located near the contact line in Karabakh.
Another military expert of Azerbaijan, a retired officer Azad Isazade in an interview with "Caucasian Knot" also noticed that all the exercises are held in accordance with the plan of action, defined time frames, "although the date can be moved in one direction or another." At the same time, the Azerbaijani expert assured that the exercises, along with the training of personnel, have a goal and are a demonstration of power.