The public procurement website of Russia has declared tender for the service to barrack accommodation of the military campuses of the Russian Defense Ministry in Karabakh. The website refers to Karabakh, the territory belonging to Azerbaijan, as the 'Nagorno Karabakh Republic.'
According to Report, in line with the document posted on the official portal, on August 13 of this year, the Russian Defense Ministry applied "'for provision of services for the organization and conduction of the complex services to the barrack accommodation of the military campuses of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, located in the territory of the 'Nagorno Karabakh Republic.'"
The unified information system in procurement confirmed to Report's Russian bureau that the Russian Ministry of Defense applied for holding the closed tender.
The Russian Defense Ministry is yet to comment on this issue.
Is it correct for a party to the trilateral agreement signed between Azerbaijan, Russia, and Armenia on November 10, 2020, to indicate the sovereign territory of Azerbaijan in such a way on the official portal of Russia, given the fact that the country's peacekeeping forces are in Karabakh?
Moreover, these peacekeeping forces continue to turn a blind eye to the provocations committed by Armenians. As recently as today, illegal Armenian armed detachments in the territory of Azerbaijan where Russian peacekeepers are temporarily stationed have intensively shelled the positions of one of the Azerbaijani units in the direction of Shusha. Such cases have been recorded repeatedly within almost a year after the end of the Karabakh conflict. So, why are peacekeepers turning a blind eye to this, though they must avert such incidents?
According to Taras Kuzio, a British professor at the National University of Ukraine, three decades of frozen conflicts in Moldova and Georgia provide significant proof of the lack of interest in Russia in maintaining peace and resolving conflicts.
According to him, Russia's only goal is to preserve its influence in the region.
"Peacekeepers are turning a blind eye to the fact that Armenia supplies military personnel and weapons to Karabakh via the Lachin corridor," the professor said.
Azerbaijani political scientist Tofig Abbasov told Report that such announcements are pure provocations that were observed earlier. He believes that the ignorance of people who publish such information is also apparent.
"There is no such subject as Nagorno Karabakh. The instances engaged in sales are sometimes ignorant, unaware of all details, they do not care about the response to their action. They only care about selling their products."
It is only left to hope that the Russian Defense Ministry will hear Russia's official position on this issue, including the clearly designated stance voiced by President Vladimir Putin that there is no such notion as the so-called 'Nagorno Karabakh Republic.'
As Putin stated, Armenia itself has not recognized the independence and sovereignty of Nagorno Karabakh.
"It means that in terms of international law, both Nagorno Karabakh and surrounding regions were and are an integral part of Azerbaijan," Putin said.
Whether the Ministry of Defense made this mistake by accident or deliberately, it must be corrected. We hope that the Russian Ministry of Defense does not stand against the position of the Russian president and does not oppose the official stance of the Russian state.