But, digging up the facts about the countries that I mentioned, for some reason we completely forget about a country that for us "is neither a friend nor an enemy, but ..." On a country that is our main competitor in the oil market of the former USSR , in the market of oil and gas supplies through the Black Sea to the EU countries. We shamefully “turn a blind eye” to a conflict in which, in the event of its next “fire,” we will have to participate. International agreements have not been canceled. I mean Karabakh and, accordingly, Azerbaijan.
According to numerous press reports, 18 September 2017 of the year Baku demonstrated at regular exercises of the Azerbaijani army weaponwhich, according to all international laws, it can not be. MLRS RM-70 (Czechoslovak version of our BM-21 Grad) and 152-mm ACS vz.77 Dana were shown. According to expert estimates, this weapon could have been upgraded by the Czech Excalibur Army, a member of the Czechoslovak Group, before delivery.
And the most interesting, the appearance of these weapons in Azerbaijan came as a surprise to the Czech Republic itself. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of this country officially announced the impossibility of such a deal! I emphasize the impossibility! So, a deal is impossible, and Baku has weapons. How can it be? But the other side of the Karabakh conflict - our ally, Armenia, has repeatedly spoken about the appearance of such weapons in Karabakh.
We bashfully silenced our ears. We persuaded the parties not to make a wave. But here it is, a fact! Azerbaijan has more than one or two weapons supplied from a NATO member state. This is a bulk delivery. But, I repeat, the Czech Republic is simply hysterical about this. "Not we"!
Naturally, the question arises, why is Baku armament from NATO countries? After all, the procurement of weapons has long been carried out in many countries quite officially. Even in Russia. There is no need to talk about the lack of any systems in the Azerbaijani armed forces. There is everything, and in sufficient quantities.
And this is where something that someone has known for a long time and has documents on this subject appears. And most guess. But, again, everyone "did not see" for various reasons.
How many times even at the level of everyday conversations have questions been raised about the appearance of Soviet weapons from the same ISIS (banned in the Russian Federation) terrorists? How many times have we seen old but Soviet systems on the video from these very terrorists? Why, with the official ban on the supply of all these weapons arises "out of nowhere"?
Arms market is quite profitable. And the profit there is not tens, but hundreds of percent of the initial value. That is why companies so often collide with one another in one country or another. Therefore, even at the level of governments and presidents, decisions are made on lobbying the interests of arms companies. Money does not smell. Especially if they quickly invest in new production.
Why is there smuggling for hundreds of years? Yes, simply because the smuggled goods at times cheaper than the officially delivered. Because under this scheme you can sell anything. No one will ask where and how it came from you. The main thing - the goods in stock, and it corresponds to the parameters that are stated.
Hence the simple question: could the arms trade with such profits remain only in the official format? Moreover, after the collapse of the USSR and the "overrun" of some former "ours" in the camp of the opponents of the arsenals of Soviet weapons in the West, there is enough. There is armament and ammunition, but our own armies either "died out" safely or switched to NATO armament.
For some countries, the black market has become one of the sources of income. Someone is doing this on their own. Someone "advised older brother" in order not to "shine" by himself. However, arms supply channels are known to everyone who wants to know.
Where are the weapons in Syria? Partly, only partly, from Iraq. But the weapon tends to deteriorate with intensive use. Especially in war. Yes, and in such extreme conditions as in Syria. But the militants are well armed. Moreover, many people remember the jihad announced to Ukraine for the set defective machines. For defective! ..
How is Azerbaijan connected with this? How is the Czech weapons related? In order not to be suspected of deceiving the readers (and such an accusation is surely due to you below), I refer to the materials that are published in the Western press. In particular, in the Bulgarian edition of Trud. It was there that the investigation was conducted. A group of hackers, acting under the name of Anonymous Bulgaria, handed documents to journalist Dilyana Gaitandzhieva. And that, in turn, made these documents public. The documents concern not only Azerbaijan, but also many other countries. The list is quite extensive: many European countries, the USA, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates ...
So, according to the submitted documents, the Azerbaijani state-owned airline Silk Way Airlines actively worked with private companies and enterprises producing weapons in organizing the delivery of their products to customers on diplomatic flights.
Moreover, the company guaranteed the delivery of weapons by civil aircraft. First, it "masked" the delivery itself. Secondly, a civilian aircraft with diplomatic cargo is not subject to inspection. It is enough just to get permission from the aviation regulator of the country. The publication Trud talks about Bulgaria, Serbia, Romania, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, Turkey, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, etc.
If, for some reason, a civilian state-owned airline was unable to carry out the flight, then the customers were provided with guarantees for the delivery of cargo by the Azerbaijani Air Force.
Now some readers will require examples of such supplies. Words are one thing, but real supplies are another. I will not reinvent the wheel. Again an example from the Western press.
"In 2016 and 2017 in Jeddah and Riyadh, Silk Way Airlines made 23 diplomatic flights. Customers were suppliers and manufacturers of weapons - VMZ and Transmobile from Bulgaria, Yugoimport from Serbia and CIHAZ from Azerbaijan. As is known, Saudi Arabia does not use weapons NATO standards, and delivers it to pro-Saud forces in Yemen and to jihadists in Syria. "
In most cases, you can always refer to private initiative. The state has nothing to do with it. Just how does another fact relate to this? This state-owned airline operates the flight ...
During the capture of Mosul, the Iraqi army seized several warehouses with weapons. Warehouses namely LIH (banned in the Russian Federation). Among other things, anti-tank missiles were found there. But, according to competent sources, it was precisely such missiles that were transported by diplomatic flights 28 of April and 12 of May on the route Burgas-Jeddah-Brazzaville. And for some reason it happened that in the Congo and Saudi Arabia the planes were on the 12-14 hours ... Non-flying weather? ..
Now back to the beginning of the article. To the conflict in Karabakh. There is one “hitch” there, which for a long time did not give rest to many journalists. Last year, during the latest aggravation of the situation in Karabakh, Azerbaijan announced the use of ammunition with banned white phosphorus by Armenia. An unexploded rocket was shown, which was indeed equipped with a warhead with this substance.
It seems that this is a great reason to “stir up” the brain to the international community. But the wave of accusations somehow quickly subsided. Such an information "tsunami". One, all alone. What is the reason for the absence of the following?
It turned out, judging by the documents from the Azerbaijani Embassy in Bulgaria, such missiles were delivered to Azerbaijan in 2015 year. And they were produced in Serbia! And it is quite difficult to “glue” the manufacturer and Armenia in one pile. Therefore, they "forgot" about the rocket ...
But there remains the question of the emergence of Czech SAU and MLRS. I repeat, the Czech Foreign Ministry categorically denies the existence of a contract with Baku for the supply of this weapon. And Baku, in turn, demonstrates these systems in exercises. Here I come to help colleagues from IA REGNUM (https://regnum.ru/news/polit/2324563.html).
"In 2017, the same year there were at least 5 flights on the route Niš (Serbia) - Ovda (Israel) - Nasosny (Azerbaijan). This is where the MLRS RM-70 and unnamed SAUs (supposedly the very Dana) appear in the list If Azerbaijan had already purchased it for itself, not for Middle Eastern militants, the Israeli company Elbit Systems and the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry were officially indicated by the customers, so it’s unlikely that it will be able to get rid of supplies to the Czech Republic, especially since Baku openly demonstrated all these weapons. "
The arms market has always been and will remain for a long time highly profitable. Any country is always looking for new ways to replenish their own budget. These two postulates, alas, often make monsters of quite adequate people. When the glitter of gold overshadows the eyes and turns a person into a slave of a piece of metal. For the sake of this metal, it is not a pity for other people's lives. I do not mind your own honor. Do not even feel sorry for the honor of their own state.
I understand that the management of such a large country as Azerbaijan is a difficult process. For me, for example, simply unaffordable. But I also understand that evil always returns. Returns to the one who promoted him, who cherished him, who sent him to another.
Undercover games, which lead the countries of the second, third and other divisions of world politics today, are not a secret for the leading powers. They are just another trump card in the deck. Trump, which will be opened when the real need for such a course comes. This also applies to European countries and Azerbaijan.
So what is this for? Money smells ... Especially if this money is for someone else's life, for other children, old men, women ... Oh, how they smell ... And this smell is remembered for a lifetime ... As a corpse ...