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International Crisis Groupâ€™s briefing on military reforms in Azerbaijan

29 October 2008 17:25 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Victoria Dementyeva-APA. International Crisis Groupâ€™s briefing on military reforms in Azerbaijan. Crisis Group Caucasus Project Directorate told APA that the International Crisis Group had examined the difficulties Azerbaijan faces in upgrading its military. Oil wealth has been poured into a defence budget that has increased more than ten-fold in five years, raising concerns official Baku might eventually choose war with Armenia to recover Nagorno-Karabakh. But reforms could also make the army more accountable, less corrupt and a contributor to democratisation. Unwillingness to take tough decisions, including how far to cooperate with and accept advice from NATO while balancing relations with Russia and Iran, has led to stalemate in efforts to reduce widespread inefficiency, corruption and mistreatment in the army. For now at least, the delicate military balance with Armenia probably still holds.

â€œDefence sector reform should be an integral part of an overall democratic process, said Lawrence Sheets, Crisis Group Caucasus Project Director. â€œIf Azerbaijan is committed to thorough reform of the military, it will need to change substantially in many other areas of government and society as wellâ€.

Azerbaijan needs to improve dissemination of defence information and expand awareness about its increased military spending. NATO, which is helping with its military reform, should facilitate dialogue between the militaries of both Azerbaijan and Armenia. The international community, including the EU, U.S. and Russia should push the parties harder to resolve their conflict peacefully.

â€œIt makes sense both for Azerbaijan to pursue the kind of deep reforms of structures, laws and procedures necessary to build a truly excellent military and for NATO and other democratic states to provide a degree of assistanceâ€, said Sabine Freizer, Crisis Group Europe Program Director. â€œHowever, the fundamental need is for all who profess an interest in stability in these areas to give more priority to ensuring that it is diplomacy, not war that provides the answer to the still dangerous Nagorno-Karabakh conflictâ€.