The settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict by force is realistic in principle, stated political commentator of the Zerkalo newspaper Rauf Mirkadyrov. In his words, this has to be a short-term campaign. «Everyone knows that international interests often conflict. There sometimes are forces interested in escalation of conflicts. Exactly those forces can slow down, weaken the international response. On these days we observe that trend in the Middle East. While the US slows down the speed of making decisions in international organizations, e.g. the UN, Israel is attaining its goal. Thus, everything is possible,» he believes. In the commentator's opinion, in case of launching hostilities in Karabakh, Azerbaijan has to determine its military potential and assess the international situation. «Azerbaijan's military budget currently exceeds that of Armenia several times, however these were equal in 2003. I do not think that within the past 3 years we were able to considerably strengthen our army at the expense of additional funds. I do not thing that before 2008 we will be ready to a military operation like that,» he said, reports Analitika.az.

We note that according to the data of Azerbaijan's Military Prosecutor Hanlar Veliyev, 15 desertion cases were registered in the Azeri army within the past 6 months.