BAKU. Aug 6 (Interfax-AVN) - A provision included in Azerbaijan's new law on national security that bans the deployment of foreign bases and troops in the country is crucial for the nation's sovereignty, Rizvan Jabiyev, a member of the parliamentary commission for defense and security issues, told Interfax on Friday.
"The presence of this provision in the law is important for Azerbaijan's sovereignty," he said.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed an instruction this week bringing the law into force. The document bans the deployment of foreign military bases, troops, military hardware, weapons and components of weapons of mass destruction, as well as the transit of such technologies under any circumstances, except for those envisioned by international treaties supported by Baku.
The issue of stationing foreign troops in Azerbaijan was raised by some experts during the parliamentary commission's session that addressed this law, Jabiyev said.
They questioned the advisability of this ban, as it may become necessary some day to deploy "bases of allies, NATO or international peacekeepers in Azerbaijan, which is in a state of war with Armenia. We strongly underscored the importance of this provision," he said.
"If the situation changes, it will not take long to introduce amendments to the law," the deputy said.
The country's laws on national security, intelligence and counter- intelligence operations were modeled on the laws of CIS countries, including Russia, Jabiyev said. This is quite rare, since Azerbaijan traditionally uses Western experience while drafting its laws, he said.