Azerbaijan to liberate occupied territories in near future: Defense Minister
By Sara Rajabova
Azerbaijani army, under the guidance of the Supreme Leader, will soon take revenge for its martyrs and liberate the occupied lands.
Azerbaijani Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov made the remarks at a ceremony on the occasion of the "Day of Military Lyceum" named after Jamshid Nakhchivanski on April 19.
"Modern independent Azerbaijan was built by National Leader Heydar Aliyev. He is the architect and creator of the disciplined Azerbaijani army, military lyceum where we have gathered today is his heritage," Hasanov said.
Hasanov further said when the country was attacked by Armenian armed forces, the enemy was advancing with territorial claims on Karabakh, the graduates of the military lyceum named after Jamshid Nakhchivanski were the first who responded to the call of motherland.
He added that dozens of officers became martyrs in the struggle for the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.
"Today, I bow my head before the memory of our martyrs and I can confidently say that under the leadership of the Supreme Commander, who continues the political, economic, social and cultural policy of Heydar Aliyev, whose priority as a President is the army building, we'll take revenge for the martyrs and liberate the occupied territories," Hasanov noted.
He said the large-scale military exercises were conducted in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic a few days ago.
"Nakhchivan living in the blockade in the past years is developing dynamically and securely protected. As in other regions, the military structures strengthened, amplified with each passing day and the military personnel have a high spirit in this ancient and renewing land," Hasanov said.
He further noted that the Azerbaijani Army soldiers are not afraid of the enemy, and always ready to fulfill the tasks to defend the Motherland.
Following the ceremony, in response to a question on the tense situation on the contact line of the Azerbaijani and Armenian troops, Hasanov said the information about the tense situation does not correspond to reality.
"The ceasefire regime is regularly violated. However, everyone can be sure that the Azerbaijani army is the strongest in the region and is in the state of responding to the enemy and responds," the minister said.
"In accordance with the instructions of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev the reforms continue in the armed forces. A separate combined-arms army was set up in order to strengthen the defense capabilities of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic as part of these reforms. We have conducted the large-scale exercises in Nakhchivan with the purpose to test its activities and combat readiness. Some 11 brigades participated in the exercises, which demonstrated high combat readiness. As a minister, I am very satisfied with the combat readiness. We are pleased with the state of the arming and the morale of the personnel. We are confident that separate combined-arms army in Nakhchivan will implement all tasks at a high level," Hasanov said.
Hasanov also commented on the threat from Russia to the post-Soviet countries, noting there is no such threat.
"We do not see such a threat. Azerbaijan is a steadily developing country, the army is developing as the other areas. As you have witnessed, the Azerbaijani army is provided with new weapons, and it will be continued. As a result of the President`s care, the Azerbaijani army is developing day by day. As being a military, I want to note especially that personnel make every effort to have the confidence of the president and continue to be ready to perform the tasks," Hasanov said.
Also, speaking at the ceremony, Deputy Head of Azerbaijani Presidential Administration and Defense Issues Assistant to Azerbaijani President, Lieutenant-General Vahid Aliyev said today Azerbaijan is a country with the strongest army in the region.
"Our enemies are very concerned about this. We must always be ready at any time to liberate our occupied territories by the order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. We will free our lands from the occupation," he noted.
Aliyev further said the officers of the military lyceum named after Jamshid Nakhchivanski will play an important role in the liberation of the occupied Azerbaijani territories.
"In 1971 when Heydar Aliyev founded this school, no one knew about the purpose of its creation. Nobody knew that a time will come and Azerbaijan will become an independent state. But national leader Heydar Aliyev knew about it," Aliyev said.
Aliyev, who is also a graduate of the military lyceum named after Jamshid Nakhchivanski, thanked the teaching staff of this educational institution. "We are grateful to all those who have brought up our decent soldiers," he said.
Earlier, Defense Minister Hasanov has issued an order to annually celebrate April 19 as Day of Military Lyceum.
On this day, National Leader Heydar Aliyev at a meeting with the personnel of the Military Lyceum handed the banner to this educational institution.