Azerbaijani scientist, the creator of the S-300 Favorit and S-400 Triumf anti-aircraft missile systems (AMS), a doctor of technical sciences who for a long time chaired the Almaz-Antey military-industrial complex, the head of the Cosmic State Asgardia Igor Ashurbeyli was interviewed by APA's Moscow correspondent.
- Igor Raufovich, We would like you to inform about the “Asgardia”, the cosmic state you created. What does the cosmic state mean?
The cosmic state of “Asgardia” was established on October 12, 2016. This date is our national holiday. June 18 is our second national holiday. This date is the day of declaration of national unity and adoption of the Constitution in the state of Asgardia. Today, “Asgardia” has more than 1 million residents. These people are from 230 countries in the world. Unfortunately, Azerbaijan is just on the 58th place in this list. Of course, I would like Azerbaijan, my homeland to be on one of the leading places on this list. Because neighboring Turkey comes second in this list after the United States.
People are registering to this country over the internet. Asgardia has everything necessary to function as a state: the Constitution, flag, anthem and election of representatives. Asgardia has developed infrastructure that does not depend on the systems of the Earth. Asgardians have passports, integrated portable devices, credit cards, and traditional smartphones.
Asgardian's future plans include the introduction of global Internet and access to Asgardian technology, as well as the creation of the fleet to protect the Earth from asteroids. Asgardia is the next step towards not only the development of the country but also humanity as a whole. Space is endless, and space explorations allow Homo sapiens to be immortal.
- Is it possible to find names connected with your homeland, Azerbaijan, in the cosmic state that you created?
Asgardia is a cosmic state. There is nothing to do with the names of the earth's states. This is our principle. Asgardian's parliament has representatives from 42 countries around the world. Representatives from Azerbaijan were elected to the Asgardia parliament. They represent Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijani language in the parliament. As you can see, our parliament has been chosen not by the principle of country, but by the language principle.
- We would like to speak about your connections with Azerbaijan. How often do you go to Azerbaijan?
At least once a year I am visiting Azerbaijan. I visit the graves of my ancestors. Over the last two years, I have a great project in Azerbaijan in the last two years. It is a hotel-museum project located in Icheri Sheher, a few steps from the Maiden Tower. As you know, my ancestors came to Azerbaijan firstly in 1743. We had 42 houses in Baku in the years of the revolution. This can be found in the catalog of phone numbers in 1913. There are telephone numbers for houses with the name Ashurbeyli in this catalog. But, unfortunately, all of these houses have been demolished. We wanted to obtain a historic building in Baku and call it the honor of Ashurkhan, who was the head of the family roots.
- What can you say about the current level of Russian-Azerbaijani relations?
I am not a politician, but I can say that relations between the two countries are at a high level. It is felt that there are high confidence and trust between the two countries. I am participating at the receptions held by the Embassy of Azerbaijan to Russia regarding the Republic Day. There are many influential Azerbaijanis in Moscow and other regions of Russia. All these inform about the level of relations between the two states.
- Are you satisfied with the integration of Azerbaijanis living in Russia to the society of this country?
It is important to integrate the Azerbaijanis to the Russian society who came to permanently live here. Firstly, I want to say that the advantage of language proficiency has always been a good opportunity for the integration of Azerbaijanis. In my opinion, the advantage of language proficiency allows Azerbaijanis to integrate more closely into Russian society.
- We can not help but ask about the S-300 Favorit and S-400 Triumf missile complexes, which are produced under your leadership, the shield of the Russian air defense system. What does it mean to have this weapon?
I have been General Director of the Almaz-Antey military industrial complex preparing S-300 and S-400 zenith missile systems for a long time. S-300 systems have been developed just under my guidance. By the way, Azerbaijan has also possessed this zenith missile complex within the framework of the intergovernmental agreement. Those complexes were successfully delivered to Azerbaijan and demonstrated at the military parade.
The S-300 complex is a real geopolitical defense weapon. This weapon allows the country to gain the protection of the sovereignty of the airspace. Few countries are fighting with the tanks in modern conflicts. Most of the battles mainly occur in the air space in recent conflicts. The wars in Yugoslavia, Iraq, Libya and Syria were conducted over the air. I believe that the skyline of Azerbaijan, which has S-300, has been confidently closed. This is a very important point.
- Turkey has purchased S-400 systems from Russia. The US puts pressure on Turkey regarding this, threatening sanctions and urging it not to purchase these systems. The Turkish side has announced that it will be able to participate in the production of the S-400 jointly with Russia in the future. Is it possible for Russia and Turkey jointly to produce S-400s from the theoretical point of view?
Of course, this is possible. This is international experience in the arms trade. The buyer country always wants a part of the production to be in its territories. Firstly, that country wants to build its own industry, master new technology and freely produce those systems in the future. The simplest example is China. They were purchasing S-300s from Russia for more than 20 years. They said they will not purchase anything anymore, and they will learn to produce it themselves. However, something went wrong. Now they purchase S-400 complexes from us.
As for the US pressure on Turkey regarding S-400s, I can say that today S-400 zenith missile complexes have no analogs in the world according to some technical indicators. In my opinion, this is one of the reasons. The other reason is that the US is trying to monopolize the arms market. This is a competition.
- Igor Raufovich, 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territories have been occupied by Armenia for about 30 years. Although the Karabakh conflict is considered to be a frozen conflict, it is still ongoing. It would be interesting to know your thoughts on this conflict.
As a head of state of Asgardia, I can say that our Constitution forbids participating in conflicts of the Earth. Generally, commenting on conflicts is prohibited. This is Asgardian's principal position. Because thousands of years of humanity mean a thousand years of war. It is difficult to change that. That is why we have created a state outside of the globe. As a head of state of Asgardia, I can not comment on the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. But what else position can I hold as a native of Azerbaijan? Of course, Karabakh is ours and belongs to Azerbaijan.
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