It is few days now, that a new propaganda campaign against Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is being held in Azerbaijan.
This time the Baku propaganda claims as if NKR grows drugs, and allegedly sells it through Iran. It should be noted that it is Azerbaijan that consistently appears in all reports of the U.S. State Department and the United Nations as one of the major drug-transit countries, while neither Armenia nor Nagorno Karabakh have never been mentioned in this regard. Moreover, the UN maps clearly indicate that drug trafficking routes bypass both Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, and pass through the territory of Azerbaijan.

Former fraud of Azerbaijani propaganda

Earlier, representatives of Azerbaijan have tried to accuse Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh in drug trafficking, however, the illogical and unrealistic nature of these allegations was evident even in Baku. Perhaps it is for this reason that the old propaganda concepts of Baku took a new form. Thus, before the representatives of Azerbaijan stated that, in addition to the main drug trafficking routes through Iran to Azerbaijan and then to Europe, supposedly there’s another route from Iran to the NKR. In particular, the chairman of the State Committee of Azerbaijan to combat drug abuse and illicit drug trafficking, Ali Hasanov has made absurd statements in this regard. He claimed that the drugs allegedly enter the Nagorno-Karabakh, and then Russia and Europe. Hasanov did not explain how exactly this happen. The question here is not only the falsity of these statements, but the absence of logic as well.

The thing is that Nagorno-Karabakh is bordered by 3 countries – Iran, Armenia and Azerbaijan. In the same time, Armenia, in the reports of both the UN and the U.S. State Department has always been mentioned as a country that bypasses the drug routes. Armenia is struggling against the drug trafficking quite successfully, which is stated also in corresponding reports (more on this below).

But let’s get back to the provocation of Azerbaijani agitation propaganda. Even if we trust the allegations of Baku propagandists, we will have the following picture: drugs allegedly enter Nagorno-Karabakh from Iran, and then it has no other place to go – in Armenia, as noted above, is very strict with the drug issue, and the republic is not a drug transit country. Where do the drugs “appeared” in Nagorno-Karabakh by the power of imagination of Azeri propaganda go? Surely, Azerbaijani agitation propaganda can “discover” the supply chain across the front line, but then they would have to say that the Azerbaijani army is busy with drugs transit or the control at the front line is so bad that drug dealers easily transport drugs by this way.

We shouldn’t exclude also a more ridiculous version: Azerbaijani propaganda will explain that after “sending” drugs through Iran to Nagorno-Karabakh, it gets back to Iran. Why do the drug dealers make such an inane hook is not clear. Apparently, Azerbaijan, realizing the absolute incoherence of the previous version decided to bring up a new one.

It should be noted that a person who is familiar with the map of the region and the relevant reports of the UN and the U.S. State Department is aware of the failure of the allegations of Azerbaijani propaganda. Probably, the former campaign was designed either for an audience not familiar with the realities of the region, or for those not capable of critical analysis.

New lie of Azerbaijani propaganda

New campaign against Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh began on June 11 in 2013 by the statement of MNS which said that a gang is detained whose members are accused of smuggling 40 kg of drugs from Iran to Azerbaijan. One of the gang members, Azerbaijani citizen Asker Ibrahimi, allegedly stated that in Iran a person named Ersalam Halim gave him marijuana for delivering it to Azerbaijan. According to Ebrahimi, E. Halim stated that arijuana is allegedly “grown by Armenians in territory of Karabakh.”

The fact how in Azerbaijan they get the necessary evidence, is mentioned not only in numerous human rights reports, but also in reports of the U.S. State Department. Thus, in the annual report of the U.S. State Department published in April 2013 on the situation of human rights in the world is said that in 2012 torture of prisoners continued in Azerbaijan, as a result at least 4 people died.

Baku officials and pro-government activists made speeches as if by order after the publication of “revelations” of drag-dealer and Minister of Azerbaijani National Security, including the members of parliament and “pocket politicians” like Mubariz Akhmedoglu.
They all stated unanimously that the authorities of Armenia grow drugs in Nagorno-Karabakh, and later sell them through Iran. In particular such statements were made by Zahid Oruc pro-governmental MP, Ali Ahmed, executive secretary of the ruling party “Yeni Azerbaijan” and his party fellow Aydin Mirzazade, as well as Ali Hasanov, the chairman of the State Commission for the fight against drug abuse and illicit trafficking of narcotic substances, etc.

A few propagandistic materials came, even, out on this subject in Azerbaijani media, which were gently presented as “analytics”. At the same time Baku propagandists cannot recognize the complete failure of the previous version of the drug transit; that is why they gradually moved to the assertions that Karabakh is not only the territory of transit, but also is the territory of cultivation of drugs.

It is worth noting that, if the majority of the Azerbaijani propagandists “blame” the NKR by using arguments from series of “as it has long been known”, the head of the Political Analysis Department and Information Support of the Presidential Administration of Azerbaijan Elnur Aslanov went even further. He stated in the interview given to “1nyuz.az” news agency, “This fact served another confirmation of well-grounded accusation by Azerbaijan saying that Armenia uses occupied Karabakh as a source and transit point for drugs’ smuggling. This point is reflected every year in the International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR) of the U.S. State Department.”

One may get the impression that the U.S. State Department says in its report as if drugs are being transported through NKR territory. In fact, in a report titled “International Narcotics Control Strategy”, the fact about “the concerns of Azerbaijan” in connection with his inability to control the borders of the “occupied territories” on the border with Iran, is stated. The representative of Azerbaijan tried to refer to the “concern” of Baku in the State Department report, that is to say, in fact it referred to himself. In the same time, the State Department report had no note of drugs being transited through the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Baku propaganda attempted to engage U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan Richard Morningstar into this campaign too. However, here as well the Azerbaijani propaganda came to grief. According to the Azerbaijani news agency “APA”, to the request to comment on the allegations of the Azerbaijani MNS on the fact of cultivation of drugs in Karabakh, Ambassador of the United States only stated: “I do not know if this information is true. But I can surely say that we are against the fact of cultivation of drugs and drug trafficking, wherever it may be. I would like to emphasize that we do not know whether the allegations are true. ”

Facts against lies of Azerbaijani Propaganda

In general, the Azerbaijani propaganda tries to present the NKR as a “dangerous and uncontrolled zone”. Here it is worth to note that the NKR is regularly visited by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, the OSCE mission that implement monitoring on the contact line, etc. NKR regularly holds elections, which are attended by foreign observers. It is with the elected authorities of Nagorno-Karabakh, that the representatives of the OSCE negotiate. It is noteworthy that in the reports of international organizations such as Freedom House, the NKR is recognized a more democratic country than Azerbaijan. Besides that, NKR, in addition to politicians and parliamentarians from different countries, is visited by renowned artists and internationally famous cultural figures. This fact especially annoys the Azerbaijani propagandists.

Nagorno-Karabakh Republic was twice (in February 2005 and October 2010) attended by the OSCE Field Assessment Mission. In the same time, in 2010, together with the representatives of the OSCE, experts of the UN from the High Commissariat for Refugees attended Karabakh. Despite all the efforts of Baku, in the final report of the OSCE assessment mission, there was not a word uttered about the “drug transit” across the NKR territory.

Meanwhile, in this context, it is necessary to review the situation with drug trafficking in Azerbaijan itself, and not simply on data of National Security Council or the special services of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, but on data of the United Nations, the U.S. State Department, the Federal Security Service of Russian Federation and the Russian Federal Service for Control of Drug Trafficking of RF. We will also present some publications of Azerbaijani and Turkish media.

In the annual “2013 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report” of the U.S. State Department it is said that the major drug trafficking routes from Afghanistan and Iran to Europe and Russia pass through Azerbaijan. It is noted that Azerbaijan is an important transit country for heroin and other drugs. “Up to 11 metric tons of heroin is annually carried to Azerbaijan en route. The biggest part is imported from the southern border with Iran,” the document says.

The same report of the State Department reads that Armenia is unattractive for drug trafficking, and the Armenian government is undertaking steps to strengthen controls at the border. It is also noted that the Government of Armenia holds annual measures for the Elimination of wild poppy and cannabis.

In the previous 2012 report of the U.S. State Department it is stated that Azerbaijan is often used as a transit country for drug trafficking from Afghanistan to Europe and Iran. “During the past 10 years the amount of drug seizure and drug-related crime has increased,” the document says. The report also notes that the number of addicts has increased in Azerbaijan. Heroin is the most popular one in Azerbaijan. There also grow other narcotic plants in Azerbaijan.

As for Armenia, the State Department reiterates that the Government of Armenia strengthens border control, and the country is of minor importance to drug trafficking. It is also noted that Armenia is not a major drug producer, and the amount of domestic consumption is quite modest because of the morals of the population. The volume of the seized drugs in 2012 has reduced.

The UN report on illegal drug trafficking in the world says that Azerbaijan and Azerbaijanis are have an important role in drug trafficking of heroin from Afghanistan to Europe and in the turnover of other drugs. According to the report, the first “Northern Balkan route” of drug trafficking from Afghanistan to Europe lies precisely through Azerbaijan. The second is “Old Balkan Route”, which lies straight from Iran to Turkey, but most of the goods convey Azerbaijanis and Kurds that are living there.

According to a UN report, the third route of drugs delivery that lies through Azerbaijan stretches out from the Turkmen seaport after Turkmenbashi in Baku, from where some of the drugs are easily being smuggled into Russia. 11 tons of heroin enter Azerbaijan every year by these pathways, of which 4 tons are consumed in Azerbaijan, Georgia and the North Caucasus. 6 tons of the drugs are transported from Georgia to Bulgaria through the Black Sea, and the remaining one ton is smuggled into Ukraine. Drugs are also smuggled from Iran to Azerbaijan in shorter routes.

It is worth emphasizing that Armenia is not listed as a country implicated in drug trafficking in the UN report and on the attached thereto maps. On the contrary, the map of the UN implicates drug supply routes through Iran to Azerbaijan (in Lerika and Yardymly region), from Iran to Nakhichevan, Turkey, etc. Map attached to a UN report clearly shows that drug routes pass by Armenia and NKR. In the report of the UN Armenia is mentioned among the countries struggling against the opium poppy.

Facts in Azerbaijani drug history

Now, it is worth to get shortly acquainted with the data of law enforcement agencies of Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran, as well as publications of the Turkish and Azerbaijani media about the large-scale activities of narcomafia in Azerbaijan.

In October 2009 group of drug traffickers was defused in Turkey, the leaders of the group declared that they had a vast laboratory in Azerbaijan for the production of heroin and other drugs.

On September 25, in 2010 the First Deputy Prosecutor General of Azerbaijan Rustam Usubov stated that 35% of drugs that have illegally been produced in Afghanistan are transported through Iran-Azerbaijan route to other countries.

On December 23, in 2010 the head of the Russian Federal Service for Drug Control (FDCS) Viktor Ivanov stated that the transit of narcotics from Azerbaijan promotes the growth of terrorism in the North Caucasus.

In January 2011, the Azerbaijani information agency “Polygon”, wrote that the transit routes that worked back in the 90s through Nakhichevan-Iran-Turkey-Astara-Iran Dagestan are stirred up, the activities of drug traffickers in Azerbaijan has become much larger. Some government officials of Azerbaijan control routes in order to organize their work. As stated in the article, it was not by chance that the Prime Minister of Azerbaijan, Surat Huseynov was called “drug kingpin” in the 90s.

In January 2011, the media published a dispatch from the U.S. Embassy on June 12, in 2009, which says that Azerbaijan is a transit country for smuggling heroin from Iran to Europe, and the transit of drugs has strikingly increased. In the statement of the embassy it is told that the Customs Service of Azerbaijan is not taking sufficient measures to combat drug trafficking. It is noted that customs officials either are unwilling to check the motor transport, or are not able to do that.

In addition, as the U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan Anne E Derse’s note, numbered 08BAKU917 2008-09-26, stated, at the UN Office on Drugs in Azerbaijan believes that the drug mafia in Russia is largely controlled by ethnic Azerbaijanis. It is also noted that when they speak about transportation of drugs through Azerbaijan they mean the territory that is under the control of the Baku regime. The note was also published in WikiLeaks.

On March 1, in 2011 the first deputy head of the Russian FSS Border Service, Colonel-General Vyacheslav Dorokhin stated that Azerbaijan is in the second place in drug smuggling in Russia. He noted that Kazakhstan is the hot-spot for transporting drugs from Afghanistan to Russia. The second most active site for drug transportation is Azerbaijan, and the third hot-spot for Russia is Tajikistan.

On March 10, in 2011 Georgian expert on Caucasus issues Mamuka Areshidze stated that the United States was shocked by the amount of drug delivered from Afghanistan to Europe via Azerbaijan and Georgia.

On July 18, in 2011 the head of the Propaganda Office against Drugs in Azerbaijan Mazahir Efendiyev stated that the number of registered drug addicts in Azerbaijan annually grows by 1000-1500.

In January 2013, the Russian Federal Service for Drug Control published a list of the Russian most dangerous drug dealers. On the first place were the Azerbaijani, they were followed by Tajikstan and only then by Kazakhstan and Afghanistan.

On 24 April 2013 Azerbaijani newspaper “Zerkalo” described the situation in the country as follows: “Often, in the street or public transport one can meet people who are obviously is under narcotic intoxication. And in the places for night-life gatherings the addicts can be found by syringes lying around on the pavements.”

On April 17, 2013 the Deputy Head of the Main Department on Countering Drugs of Interior Ministry Adil Alekberov stated that 37 drugs delivery routes out of 113 are operating through territory of Azerbaijan.

Short summary

Azerbaijan by trying to blame Nagorno-Karabakh Republic knocks on its head. After all, Azerbaijan has long and deeply been involved in the drug business. It should be noted that by spreading slanders and frauds against the NKR the Azerbaijani authorities try to ignore the facts recorded by the above mentioned international and national organizations. This policy of Baku is, surely, doomed to failure, despite all the internal directives of the authoritarian regime of Aliyev.

It is worth noting that according to the INCB (International Council for Drug Control), the drug trafficking is realized because of the corrupt government officials. Without their support the large-scale drug trafficking would simply be impossible to implement.

Regarding the fact that over a third of illegal drugs produced in Afghanistan are transported through the territory of Azerbaijan, you can come to the conclusion that by slandering Nagorno-Karabakh, the Azerbaijani propaganda wants to cover up the sins of the Aliyev regime officials who control the drug trafficking. Perhaps, some of Azerbaijani officials involved in narcobusiness too, come out with slanders addressed to NKR from time to time.