Military Obligations Disrupts Education of High School Student
By Esmira Cavadova
Twenty year old Dayanat Allahverdiyev is caught in a contradiction between the constitution and the law on military service. In September 2007 Dayanat was drafted into the military service before completing high school – a move that is highly unusual.
Even though education is compulsory according to the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Allahverdiyed was forced to drop out of school when he was drafted.
Once he completes his military obligations, Allahverdiyev will have to decide whether to return to high school or become a dropout. He seems to be leaning toward the latter. “Here I have learned how to be a real man. I think it will be difficult from a moral point of view to return back to the high school after completing military service,” Allahverdiyev said during a telephone interview from his military base.
Khanimana Mammadova, the school principal of High School Number 209 in Mashtaga settlement where Allahverdiyev studied said the reason for this problem goes back eleven years. According to her, Allahverdiyev started first grade at the age of nine as advised by his doctors since he suffered from severe muscle spasms. Normally, most students would have completed high school before the age of 20, but because Allahverdiyev started school late, he is older than the rest of his classmates.
Mammadova said she contacted both the Sabunchu District Military Recruitment Office and Baku Education Department to request a deferment from the military and was told that Allahverdiyev was drafted in accordance with the law on the military draft.
Specifically, Allahverdiyev was drafted under Article 19 of the law on the military draft, according to Liuetenant colonel Feyzi Agabayov of the Sabunchu district military recruitment office. “According to this article, only draftees under twenty years of age who are receiving on-campus or evening education are granted a deferment of military service. Allhaverdiyev was 20 years old at the time he was called up,” Agabayov added.
Independent military expert, Alakbar Mammadov, the director of the Azerbaijan Center for Democratic Citizen Control over the Armed Forces, an NGO, said that the reason Allahverdiyev was forced to quit high school is because of gaps in the military draft law. He suggests the military recruitment office used this loophole to their advantage. “Even though, the first clause of article 19 of the law on the fundamentals of drafting to the military requires Allahverdiyev to serve in the military despite having not completed high school, another clause at the end of that same article says that those individuals who delay going into the military with the purpose of completing their education, should be drafted sometime before the age of 35.” Mammadov said that means the military recruitment office could have waited until Allahverdiyev completed high school since he is obligated to serve in the military anytime before the age of 35.
According to Sayyad Kerimov, the deputy director of the administrative and military legislation department of the apparatus of the parliament, the military recruitment office acted in line with clause “A” of Article 19 of the law on fundamentals of drafting to the military by calling up Allahverdiyev. He said this article violates the constitutional rights of the young man. “It is the first time we have experienced it in practice and therefore nobody has paid any attention to this issue,” Kerimov said.
According to Kerimov, the Constitutional Court clarifies whether the laws are accordance with the Constitution. “Everybody can appeal to this court regarding any violations of his or her constitutional rights,” he said.
The loopholes in the military drafting law puts into question the future education of Allahverdiyev. He, himself, is now uncertain whether he will continue his education. “From my early childhood I dreamed about being a performance artist. However, I don’t know how I will get the admission to the Arts University with a certificate showing I completed only nine years of school. It’s not realistic to think about completing my high school education,” the soldier added.