Any compromise with Artsakh and Armenia is equal to political suicide for Ilham Aliyev 

ArmInfo. Hero of Artsakh, Major General Arkady Ter-Tadevosyan (with nickname Commando) in an interview to ArmInfo discusses the internal threats and problems of Azerbaijan in the context of artificial maintenance of tension on the borders with Artsakh and Armenia. The combat  general shares his vision of the steps taken by the army command in the direction of strengthening the Armenian defensive positions on the border, comments on and justifies the logic of the latest purchases of arms of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan and Armenia, talks about his vision of army construction in Armenia .    

What, in your opinion, is the message contained in  the murder of an Armenian serviceman and the bombing of Armenian positions with anti-tank Spike missiles after the Geneva agreements of the Presidents on "measures to reduce tension, in order to avoid casualties on the front line" ?

In my opinion, this indicates serious internal problems in Azerbaijan. Problems that  only grow from year to year, and the  desire to create and maintain tension on ourborders. This is a program from which Ilham Aliyev can no longer back down. Not so long ago I met with representatives of Talysh, other diasporas living in the territory of present-day Azerbaijan. And as a result of this meeting I can say that the growth of the national consciousness of the ethnic groups living in the neighboring country is only growing. And the increase in cases of realization of the international right of peoples to self-determination gives this process an additional incentive. There are many examples of this: Scotland, Kurdistan, Catalonia, now Lombardy. And lately, we are all seeing a new turn in the striving of peoples to create their own, independent states. Thanks to the fact that in due time we raised the problem of Artsakh, the whole world learned about not the best condition of our compatriots living at that time in the territory of the Azerbaijan SSR. We solved this problem. I think today it's time to reflect on the state of other friendly peoples who are still forced to live in Azerbaijan. Even in its time, immediately after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the US CIA predicted the future, including Azerbaijan. This document is full of "isms", the main one of which, perhaps, is the term separatism. I can say that I completely share the desire of Catalans, Basques, Scots to independence, it's not even separatism, this desire to live even better and freer. It is not necessary to say this in the case of the peoples living in Azerbaijan. For them, the issue of secession from Azerbaijan is a matter of life and death, people want to return to their true roots, to their own language, to understand who they are, to live as they want, and not to serve as a traitor to the dynasty regime that is absolutely alien to them. In contrast to these aspirations, trends, Aliyev does his best to preserve stability in the country, mainly trying to rally the people around the struggle against "Armenian enemies." In this light, the constant tension on the borders with Armenia and Artsakh is necessary to him as air. And any compromise agreement with us for him personally equals political suicide, moreover, self-destruction. The death of any Armenian serviceman is a tragedy, a grief for us. And in Azerbaijan, for example, the body of the deceased soldier-martyr is being brought home and demonstrating, saying that he fell at the hands of the aggressors-Armenians. Talyshes told me about such speculative practices. Moreover, they assert that any young talc who shows signs of national self-consciousness is immediately sent to serve on the line of contact. Similarly, the Azerbaijani authorities behave towards the remaining 11 national minorities, with the exception of, perhaps, the Jews. In my opinion, the growing mutual hostility in Azerbaijan will sooner or later destroy this state. 

The introduction of modern video surveillance systems on the line of contact with the enemy instantly calmed the sabotage activity of the Azerbaijani military. Are there systems, mechanisms that can reduce the number of victims of a "sniper war" at least to a minimum. Are there any steps in this direction ?

In the Ministry of Defense, our military specialists are already implementing a program to introduce, at the contact line, let's say, remote control systems for weapons. This is not the only program, many mechanisms, military command and control systems, which were previously absent, are being introduced today. Many shortcomings have been identified and corrected. The fact that the progressive line of our military is gradually being strengthened is visible even to the naked eye, even to the enemy, even though, of course, much remains, so to speak, classified secret. Personally, these measures deeply satisfy me in terms of their adequacy to emerging threats. It's not just about buying new weapons, but also tactical steps, closely tied to the study of the terrain along which the line of contact passes. I can say that this factor is extremely important. Yes, the number of tanks in Azerbaijan has already exceeded 500, it does not mean that the number tank-dangerous routes in Artsakh will also grow.  Therefore, the possession of a "museum" of modern military technology and equipment does not give an advantage over the enemy, who can adequately respond to the replenishment of such a collection. 

Do I  correctly understand that some types of equipment, for example, the same tanks, are acquired by Baku for the purpose of operation  not only against Artsakh and Armenia? 

Of course. The acquisition of weapons,  Azerbaijan being fed by "iron machines"  be beneficial to Turkey, in a certain situation, the United States. Nobody can exclude the possibility of using these weapons against a third country. 

For example, Iran ... 

Yes, Iran,  and not only Iran, with which Turkey today is fighting for regional leadership. And considering Turkey's membership in NATO to predict the sympathy of the international community in this fight is not difficult. And I do not exclude the scenario in which the Azerbaijani weapons purchased from Russia will be used against Russia itself. In April 2016 in the course of the so-called. "Four-day war", we have already witnessed and, unfortunately, participants in the conflict of third countries. In April, we fell prey to just such a conflict, this must be understood and drawn conclusions. 

To purchase what types of weapons  another Russian "defense" loan. could be allocated In your opinion,  which patches should be covered  in the first place ?

At a  time, being very interested in one type of armaments and presenting the results of my analysis to the Ministry of Defense, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that it had already been acquired.

 Of course, the forthcoming acquisition of weapons is not within my competence, however, I can say that the increase in combat readiness of the Armed Forces of Armenia and the Artsakh Defense Army is primarily achieved by raising the level of mastery of management and the use of a wide variety of weapons and equipment. Thank God that our missiles fly today, before they just accumulated hundreds in arsenals. Today, to my great satisfaction, they are used in exercises to improve the level of combat training for our military.

Recently, I counted that to get Azerbaijan out of action, to withdraw from the war initiated by it, it is necessary to achieve an accurate hit on the targets in Azerbaijan of only 12 of our missiles. The huge oil refinery in Baku is just one of the goals. The destruction of the Mingechaur hydroelectric dam is wrong. It was built in the Soviet era, and even to penetrate with an exact hit such a thick layer of concrete is quite problematic. It will be much easier and more efficient to use a cascade of hydroelectric power stations that feed from this very dam.

This will unambiguously lead to the loss of 40-50 of Azerbaijan's power capacities. After studying the experience of wars in Yugoslavia, I can say that most of the losses were suffered by the parties to the conflict not as a result of the use of weapons by the enemy, viz., Figuratively speaking, "closing wires." So,  for us is not a  problem .to close up  the mentioned Azerbaijani pipeline. 

Which of the army problems, in your opinion, should be identified as a priority with a view to an early solution?    

Human factor. Its amplification in all possible ways. Here we should recognize and commend the former Minister of Defense Seyran Ohanyan who singled out this factor, which began work towards the elimination of hazing and the strengthening of the relations between soldiers-sergeants and officers. And in 2016 very clearly demonstrated to us all the correctness of the proclamation of a soldier as a man of the year in 2015. Today this work needs to be continued and strengthened. The problem of hazing is certainly solved, but, unfortunately, the family is not without freaks. And in the media, the results of such freaks are being hyperbolized, and all the good that is in the army remains within the walls of the army units. I understand that the minister decides other important issues, but I believe that in all cases, in all wars, the first blow is always assumed by soldiers, middle commanders. That's why we need a soldier to train, dress, feed, work on his combat skills. We should strengthen the human factor, by meeting his needs, which can arise during the fighting, to make the soldier able to become the eyes and ears of our army during the fighting. It is the soldier, the human factor that decides everything on the front line, in the depth of defense it is already done by other forces and units. It is the human factor, its strengthening, which I consider to be the most important. April 2016 revealed a lot of deserters in the Azerbaijani army. And our guys from Georgia, Russia, Europe, America came to our forces. We are proud of  this reserve, and we should do everything to encourage and strengthen it.