TODAY.AZ / Politics

Lieutenant-General Elchin Guliyev: The state borders of Azerbaijan are firmly protected for 24 hours in every weather conditions

18 August 2011 [16:46] - TODAY.AZ
APA’s interview with Chief of State Border Service, Lieutenant-General Elchin Guliyev on the occasion of the 92nd anniversary of Azerbaijani Border Troops

Mr. General, we would like to start our interview with the social measures taken at the State Border Service. Could you give information about the work done in this field?

Improvement of social conditions and solution of the related problems are the factors that have positive influence on the service of every border guard. Thanks to the attention and care of Supreme Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev, important steps are being taken in Azerbaijani Border Protection and this process will be continued in the coming years. Thanks to the attention and care of the Head of State, the material-technical supply of the Frontier Guards has increased, this has had positive influence on the activity of the personnel of the Border Troops. We highly appreciate the steps taken by our President. New border infrastructure is being established, border commands, frontier posts are being constructed, new weapons and vehicles bought. Large-scale measures are being taken for housing of servicemen of the State Border Service and their families. 264-flat building was inaugurated in Narimanov district. 1207-flat building for border guards will be inaugurated by the end of the year. The process will be continued in the coming years. These are not all of the social measures. Conditions have been created for the families of the officers in the buildings constructed both in Baku and in the remote regions. Conditions have been created for the rest of the officers and their families in the recreation center of the State Border Service. The most modern complexes of the Border Troops have been built even in the regions close to the line of contact.

What can you say about the reforms and modernization at the State Border Service in the recent ten years on the border protection?

The recent ten years can be called the period of reestablishment, in other words, modernization of Azerbaijani border protection. The most modern methods, equipment used in the border protection of the developed countries are used in the border protection of Azerbaijan. The state borders of Azerbaijan are firmly protected for 24 hours in every weather conditions.

Over 250 various purpose facilities are being built on our borders. New weapons, military vehicles and ships will be purchased, all this will increase our capacity. The relevant agencies of a number of countries want to study the experience of Azerbaijani State Border Service and apply in their countries. NATO has recently appealed to the Azerbaijani government and said the border guards of a number of countries want to attend the trainings of the State Border Service and study our experience. There are similar proposals from other neighboring countries. Even several countries appealed for training of personnel in Azerbaijan.

If we are not mistaken, Central Asian countries, Iran and Afghanistan are among them.

Top border security officials of other countries also confirm that Azerbaijan has gained great experience in the field of ground and sea border security in the past 10 years. This experience and opportunities we have today enable us to provide uninterrupted protection of the borders and quickly reaction. We are ready to share our experience with the friendly countries. The Academy under the State Border Service (SBS) and Coastal Guards Training Center has the opportunities to train the border guards of the countries, which asked us for the training.

SBS Academy carried out first enrolment this year. What is the interest to the newly-established academy?

The number of applications surpassed our expectations. I think it is based on the interest of young people to the career of border guard. There are all conditions for good education in the Academy, which will play great role in the training of professional personnel.

What novelties are expected in the field seas border security?

SBS Coastal Guards provide 24-hour security of the sea borders of Azerbaijan and offshore oil and gas infrastructure. The Academy began enrolment for navigation program. We established good relations and close cooperation with relevant organizations of other littoral states – Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. Ships of different size, speedy boats, modern radiolocation systems, different equipments are used on the sea border security of Azerbaijan. New ships and boats will be purchased in the future. North Boat Division will be established soon. The construction of ground part of the division was completed and the work is continued in the sea and it will be completed next year. We are planning to conduct sea exercises in the next few months.

What are the main threats to the security of Azerbaijani borders?

The main threats are the occupation of the Azerbaijani territories by Armenia and combat conditions on the state borders. As a result of this occupation, a part of the Azerbaijani borders with Iran remains uncontrolled and everyone knows what processes happen there. The second main threat is illegal drug trade and we face this threat mostly on the south borders. We strengthened the south borders to prevent it. The third threat is caused by the international terrorist groups. The smuggle problem, we faced frequently earlier, was almost eliminated due to the economic development and preventive measures. Border guards conducted more than 800 operations in the past 8 months.

Recently some problems have emerged on the borders with Iran. What do you think about the different statements made by the Iranian border security officials about the incident in Yardimli region?


Iranian border security officials told us that the incident happened accidentally. We were informed that Iran’s border commissioner was dismissed from the office after this incident, but the statements made by the Iranian officials raised some doubts. Some years ago Iran’s border troops command asked me to reduce firing at the trespassers, but we didn’t accept their request. The above-mentioned incident contradicts to the Iranian border troops command’s request.

What is the cooperation with Turkmenistan in the field of border security?

We established normal cooperation, which is developing now, and we regularly keep in touch with the command of Turkmenistan’s border troops. We also offered assistance to newly-established coastal guards of Turkmenistan. We are ready for cooperation with all friendly countries.


/APA/
URL: http://www.today.az/news/politics/92747.html

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