Azerbaijan, Baku / Trend corr. I.Alizadeh / The Deputy Chairman of the Azerbaijani Parliament does not exclude the closing of the Gabala Radar Station, the first Deputy Chairman of the Milli Majlis (Azerbaijani Parliament) and Chairman of the Permanent Parliamentary Commission on Security and Defense Issues, Ziyafat Askarov, said on 21 September.
"The future fate of the Gabala Radar Station is undefined. It may be closed or be jointly used by the US and Russia, as well as Azerbaijan may use it in its own interests," Askarov said.
The Gabala Radar Station situated in the north-west of Azerbaijan was built during the Soviet regime as an important element of USSR Anti-Missile Defense AMD. A ten-year agreement for leasing the station was signed in 2002, with an annual rental charge of $14mln.
The Russian President offered the United States to refuse the AMD system in Poland and Czech Republic in exchange for utilizing the Gabala Radar Station located in Azerbaijan. The proposal was made in June 2007. Though the United States did not alter its plans regarding Eastern Europe, the US experts met in Azerbaijan on 18 September to discuss the issue.
The American and Russian military experts visited the Gabala Radar Station. The experts submitted the documents concerning their visit to the Ministers and Presidents of their countries. Then experts will decide to visit the territory in October or not. The Azerbaijani Deputy Chairman stated that only after the American visit could he comment on the status of the station. The US and Russian Presidents will make a final decision on the issue in October, Askarov said.
"We cannot say anything regarding which steps Russia would take after the expiration of the station's lease," Askarov noted. The future steps of Azerbaijan will depend on the decision of official Moscow.