Azernews.Az

Azerbaijan`s rapidly increasing military budget has, for some reason, been criticized by the International Crisis Group (ICG), the Defense Ministry spokesman has said.
Eldar Sabiroghlu was commenting on the ICG`s statement citing allegedly sluggish reforms in the country`s military. He said the ICG, an international group working to prevent conflicts worldwide, lacks information on the reforms being carried out in Azerbaijan in the area of building the army.
"The Azerbaijani army has accomplished great results on the path of reforms in past years. Bilateral military agreements are being signed with the armed forces of neighboring states, and steps forward are being made in the area of cooperation with NATO. However the ICG, on the contrary, accuses Azerbaijan of weak cooperation with NATO. In reality, the personnel structure of all types of troops in the Azerbaijani army has been brought into compliance with NATO standards and command over the army builds on new principles."
Sabiroghlu accused the ICG of persistently adhering to a biased position toward Azerbaijan. He said it was inconceivable that such an influential organization termed as poor the attention being paid to the military and the reforms under way in a country that is in a state of war.
"Overall, so far, I have not come across a single positive sentence said by ICG about Azerbaijan. Such an approach is simply disappointing."
The ICG`s recent statement notes that Azerbaijan`s military budget has increased ten times in the past five years and says Baku`s warnings that it would free Upper Garabagh, an Azeri region currently occupied by Armenia through military action, raises concerns. It said that with the aid of reforms, the army would become more responsible, would not indulge in corruption and might contribute to the country`s democratic development. The group said the alleged unwillingness to take harsh decisions and Azerbaijan`s failure to properly capitalize on cooperation with NATO and the alliance`s recommendations, were adversely affecting the efforts aiming to bolster the army`s capabilities and to reduce cases of corruption and misconduct.