“Occupied territories of Azerbaijan are used for terrorist activities such as training of terrorists,” said Director of Azerbaijan`s Center for Strategic Studies (SAM) Farhad Mammadov at an international forum on Azerbaijan-UK relations in London.
Mammadov stressed the Armenia-occupied territories of Azerbaijan have become a hub of drug trafficking, illegal activities, and even terrorist activities.
He underlined the illegal arms trade- the trade of small arms and light weapons sustains the continued opposition to conflict resolution, because the beneficiaries of the arms deals don`t want to lose a source of income, as is the case with other illegal activities.
“However, 2010 Military Doctrine of Azerbaijan emphasizes that the occupation of the Nagorno-Karabakh territories by Armenia, which remain temporarily out of the control of Azerbaijan`s government bodies, damages not only national security, but also has a serious negative impact on regional security,” he added.
Mammadov underlined environmental security of Caucasus is seriously threatened by the occupation of the territories by Armenia.
He noted “Azerbaijan`s military budget this year is more than 3.7 billion USD, which is more than Armenia`s overall state budget. Nagorno-Karabakh remains the most serious and long-standing conflict in the post-Soviet space, and Armenia`s undeclared war has given rise to one million IDPs in Azerbaijan and the occupation of Azerbaijani territories, as already emphasized by the previous Azerbaijani speakers”.
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