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Analysts are summing up the results of the most important military conflict of recent times - Azerbaijan's victory over Nagorno-Karabakh. The role of the Turkish military is being studied especially closely, including from the point of view of controlling drones. Who from the Turkish generals stood behind the successful offensive of the Azerbaijani army and what the military in Baku are dissatisfied with - in the investigation of the VZGLYAD newspaper.
Several days ago, in the midst of Azerbaijan's offensive operation in Karabakh, several Russian and Azerbaijani publications at once reported about the dismissal of the First Deputy Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan - Chief of the General Staff, Colonel-General Najmeddin Sadigov, and even about his arrest. Sadigov was allegedly accused of treason and cooperation with Russian military intelligence. At the same time, it was stated that the general was against "Turkish dominance in the leadership of the armed forces of Azerbaijan."
The Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan has denied information about the arrest of the chief of the General Staff. However, since then he has not appeared in public, and his page suddenly disappeared from the official website of the military department .
"Give the Turks the army and their wives"
The chair under General Sadigov was shaking for a long time. Back in the middle of summer, a whole package of accusations was thrown into the media space of the South Caucasus countries. Sadigov was reproached for being born in Dagestan Derbent and of Lezghin origin, poor knowledge of the Azerbaijani language, and the presence of relatives in Russia. And most importantly, the fact that his cousin allegedly served in the Russian army on the territory of Armenia as part of the 102nd military base in Gyumri.
All this once again reminds that there is a serious split in the Azerbaijani army. It appeared a long time ago, and active hostilities only intensified and exacerbated it. Turkish advisers used to enjoy significant influence in the Azerbaijani army, were responsible for retraining and rearmament, but with the beginning of the operation in Karabakh they occupied a dominant position. Not everyone liked it. The same general Sadigov is credited with a phrase that he threw at one of the meetings: "If we give the Turks the army, maybe our wives too?"
In part, the fault line is generational. The army in Azerbaijan is cleared of those officers and generals who started serving in the Soviet Union, studied at Soviet military schools and therefore may have army friends in other post-Soviet states, including Russia and Armenia. Those who have completed an internship or study in Turkey are placed in key positions. Turkish advisers are placed above them.
"The group, headed by Major General Bakhtiyar Ersay, Chief of the Operations Directorate of the Ground Forces of Turkey, was directly involved in organizing hostilities against Nagorno-Karabakh," an official close to the leadership of the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry told VZGLYAD newspaper. For obvious reasons, he asks not to give his first and last name. “Ersay is located in Baku. After the removal of the Chief of the General Staff of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, Najmeddin Sadigov, he personally supervises the General Staff on the operation against Karabakh. He reports to the top military-political leadership of Turkey on the progress of the operation, ”the source continues.
Also, Lieutenant General Seref Ongay, commander of the 3rd Field Army of the Ground Forces of Turkey, located in the Erzincan region in eastern Anatolia, took part in the planning and implementation of the operation in Karabakh. “He came to Azerbaijan in September and October, and before that - in the summer. Ongay and several other Turkish generals were planning Turkish-Azerbaijani joint offensive operations, ”the source adds.
Information about the participation of generals Ersay and Ongay in the conflict was confirmed to the VZGLYAD newspaper on condition of anonymity by another source in Baku - a former high-ranking diplomat. “According to my information, Ersay is the military leader of the entire operation in Karabakh,” he said.
From rebels to fighters against partisans
General Ersai is a closed and non-public figure. Until now, he has not been mentioned in the Russian media. He was also hardly mentioned in the English-language media. In the Turkish press, Ersay appears only in a few articles.
The most complete story of the general in August 2016 was told by the newspaper Hürriyet ("Freedom") . In 2003, intelligence officer Ersay participated in an attempted military conspiracy against Recep Erdogan, who had just assumed the post of prime minister (the military conspiracy was called "Operation Sledgehammer" ).
Information about the coup was disclosed only in 2010. Ersai was arrested and sentenced to 16 years, but immediately after the verdict he was pardoned. The reason for this softness of the Turkish authorities is not clear. According to some reports, Ersai made a deal and testified against other participants in the conspiracy.
One way or another, but instead of a term, he received the rank of brigadier general and was transferred to the "Kurdish front": he headed the 2nd Commando Brigade, which took an active part in hostilities against the armed formations of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in northern Turkey. He destroyed several hundred Kurdish militants, was considered one of the best specialists in the "counter-guerrilla war".
“All I know about them is that they were punitive. They acted very harshly, including towards civilians who sympathized with the PKK. They did not take prisoners, but this is usually the case for the Turkish military. There were many volunteers among the soldiers, there were also "Gray Wolves" (Turkish organization of ultra-right nationalists - approx. LOOK) . The brigade has a bad reputation, ”Albert Barry, an activist from the Dutch radical left party Socialist Alternative Politics (SAP), who joined the PKK along with several other Europeans in the mid-2010s, told VZGLYAD newspaper.
Also, according to Hürriyet, Ersay participated in operations in Libya. In particular, he was responsible for the evacuation of Turkish citizens from the country after the fall of the regime of Muammar Gaddafi. Participated in training seminars at the NATO Joint Military Center in Stavanger, Norway. In August 2019, the Haber media holding reported that the Supreme Military Council of Turkey (Yüksek Askeri Sura, YAS) awarded Ersay the rank of Major General.
Public information about Lieutenant General Sheref Ongay is very sparse. He graduated from the military academy in Ankara in 1982 and served in various units of the ground forces. In 2014 he was appointed commander of the 9th Army Corps. For some time he was the head of the infantry school in Tuzla.
According to the interlocutors of VZGLYAD newspaper, the work of Turkish generals in Azerbaijan is provided by about 200 military advisers. They are not on the front line, but are engaged in organizational and staff work. For the needs of Turkish specialists, two special satellite communication stations have been deployed - in Baku and on the territory of the military airport in Gabala. The Azerbaijani military is prohibited from using these stations. The Azerbaijani military was also ordered to follow all the instructions and wishes of the advisers, not to argue or contradict them. This is often frustrating.
“Karabakh belongs to Azerbaijan! Write it down and publish it necessarily. I want to be understood correctly, ”retired lieutenant colonel of the Azerbaijani army Oleg Guliyev told the VZGLYAD newspaper correspondent, now he lives in Moscow. - Azerbaijan must fully return Karabakh, this is correct and fair. But we must return Karabakh ourselves. If we return it on a Turkish leash, then we will return only Karabakh, and we will lose the rest of our country. ”
Air Drone General
Another Turkish commander who took part in the leadership of the operation in Nagorno-Karabakh is Major General, Head of the 1st Supply and Maintenance Center of the Turkish Air Force, Heksel Kahya. Last Sunday, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev met in Baku with Turkish Foreign and Defense Ministers Hulusi Akar and Mevlut Cavusoglu. Details were not disclosed. Geksel Kahya also participated in the negotiations. Officially, this was not said, but the Telegram channel Razm.info identified him from photographs from the meeting .
It is noteworthy that this is the second meeting between Kakhya and Aliyev. The first took place in August. All participants of the meeting, except for Kahya, were named in the same way. He himself was then, also from a photograph, identified by the Nagorno Karabakh Observer group . According to the VZGLYAD newspaper, Kakhya has been on the territory of Azerbaijan since at least July.
Before coming to Azerbaijan, Heksel Kahya organized the work of the Global Center for Security and Operations (GСSO) in Libya last spring and summer. The center's role was reduced to managing the Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drones to support the troops of the Government of National Accord (GNA), which opposed Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar.
The effect of Bayraktar TB2 was critical. The PNS forces stopped the offensive of Haftar, although he was already ready for the assault on Tripoli. In some sectors of the front, they even managed to organize a counteroffensive and repulse the coastal cities of Surman, Sabratah and Al-Ayyalat.
Kahya's involvement was revealed when Haftar's army captured several Turkish advisers and obtained their correspondence, as well as copies of the passports of all Turkish specialists who worked for the GCSO. As a result of negotiations between Ankara and Haftar, the prisoners were released, but the scans of passports, including those of Heksel Kahya, were published by the Al Marsad edition .
The appearance of Kahya in Azerbaijan, where, just like in Libya, drones were used en masse, is another coincidence - too significant and hardly accidental. “Undoubtedly, Heksel Kahya is in charge of all Bayraktar TB2 flights in the war zone in Nagorno-Karabakh. All operational intelligence information obtained with the help of Bayraktar TB2 is reported to him, and he, in turn, reports this information to Turkish President Recep Erdogan, ”concludes Denis Korkodinov, director of the International Center for Political Analysis and Forecasting, an expert on Transcaucasian countries.
The fact that it is Kahya who coordinates the use of Bayraktar TB2 in Nagorno-Karabakh, with reference to its own sources, was recently reported by the Cypriot analytical center Geopolitical Cyprus , which specializes in military-political research in the countries of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East.
***
Bayraktar TB2 drones have become the main trump card of Azerbaijan during this military campaign. Most of the video with the destruction of Armenian equipment and soldiers was made from them. The plan was Turkish, the generals were Turkish. And the drones are also made in Turkey. However, who owns them and who controlled them is an open question.
“This is a very interesting question. There are two options that are roughly equivalent. Or the deal was done secretly so as not to attract attention, such a practice exists. Or is it the drones of the Turkish army. At the same time, it should be understood that the training of qualified operators for drones takes at least several months. My assumption is that under any of these options, the drone operators should be Turkish specialists, ”explains Ruslan Pukhov, director of the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies (CAST).
Thus, Baku can celebrate victory. But in terms of command and control, Turkish generals can celebrate victory.
ВЗГЛЯД.РУ - Кто из турецких генералов руководил атакой на Карабах
Аналитики подводят итоги важнейшего военного конфликта последнего времени – победы Азербайджана над Нагорным Карабахом. Особенно внимательно изучается роль турецких военных, в том числе с точки зрения управления беспилотниками. Кто из турецкого генералитета стоял за успешным наступлением...
