“The soldiers and officers of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan, who wrote the heroic Chronicle of our people and ended their historical missions with glorious victories, have great authority in our country. Our people consider them heroes, treat them with respect and appreciate their services. We can say with confidence that today Azerbaijan has an Invincible Army, perfect, strong, with a high fighting spirit and loving the motherland with all its life.
Of course, it was Heydar Aliyev, the founder of the modern Azerbaijan state, who formed this Army and set it on the path of great development. He always kept in mind this area, which he considered strategic, even in the 70s of the last century, when he led our republic, he did important work in this direction. In 1971, a military high school named after Jamshid Nakhchivanski, who trained military personnel in Azerbaijan, was established at the expense of our Great Leader’s foresight and hard work. After that, the interest in military art increased significantly in Azerbaijan, and the process of training local officers became widespread. The importance of this school was also in the fact that after the restoration of our independence, it played the role of the main base in the construction of the army.
Therefore, the history of the development of our Armed Forces is closely related to the name of Heydar Aliyev. One of the main goals of the Great Leader Heydar Aliyev, who returned to power for the second time at the call of the people, was the creation of a regular army. The first indicator of his work in this direction was the successful and extremely important “Horadiz” operation. The importance of this operation was that our people, who were demoralized and lost their hope for victory, grew in confidence, and increased trust and confidence in our soldiers and officers. Undoubtedly, psychological superiority is the most important point for a warring state.”
Sattar Mohbaliyev, chairman of the Azerbaijan Trade Unions Confederation (AHIK), member of the Milli Majlis, expressed these views to the mass media.
According to him, after the “Horadiz” operation, Armenia was forced to go to a cease-fire, and after that, the construction of the army in Azerbaijan accelerated, important work was done in the direction of improving the material and technical support of the Armed Forces, increasing the moral and psychological training of personnel, and raising the fighting spirit:
“In 1999, the Military Academy was established, the army building was brought in line with international standards, Azerbaijan joined NATO’s” partnership for Peace “program, as well as the” Planning and analysis process “program and the”operation plan for Individual Partnership”. Our military has mastered the latest military innovations by participating in NATO programs and other bilateral cooperation programs. At the same time, having joined the international peacekeeping forces, they gained rich experience, and our Army, adapting to NATO standards, thus turned into a modern and powerful army.”
The Chairman of ATUC (AHIK) noted that President Ilham Aliyev, who duly justified the trust of our people and successfully continued and developed the political course of the Great Leader in all directions, always focused on the building of the army: psychological training increased, our Army was equipped with the most modern weapons and equipment. Thanks to consistent and systematic work, our Armed Forces have become the strongest and most organized army in the region.
Even in international reports, the power and organization of our Army is specially noted, it is listed as the first in the South Caucasus and among the fifty armies in the world. Of course, this is a clear example of President Ilham Aliyev’s high attention to this field. The battles of April 2016 showed the strength of our Army to the whole world. In addition to giving a solid response to the enemy’s provocation, more than 2,000 hectares of land were cleared of the enemy.
“Under the leadership of Commander-in-Chief Mr. Ilham Aliyev, the greatest mission of the Azerbaijan Armed Forces was the 44-day Patriotic War, which opened bright pages in our history and laid the foundation of a new era. With this unique Victory, the 200-year-old conflict entered history, the 30-year-long war ended with Victory, and our nation was immersed in the joy of the great Victory. Our soldiers and officers, who put the feeling of the homeland above all emotions, did not even hesitate to die on this glorious road, they fought bravely and destroyed the invading army. All the planned operations were completed successfully, the applied tactics were justified. In short, every step of the glorious battle path of our soldiers and officers in the second Karabakh war is our heroic record and will remain forever in our history. At the same time, the anti-terrorist measures implemented in Karabakh in September of last year showed that there is no barrier that the Azerbaijani soldier cannot overcome, this Army is getting stronger and its experience is increasing year by year,” the MP of the Milli Majlis emphasized.
According to Sattar Mohbaliyev, the increasing strength of our Armed Forces assures us once again that the defense power of our country will continue to increase, our borders will be more reliably protected, and our independence and sovereignty of our state will be eternal.