Azernews.Az

By Jamila Babayeva

Azerbaijani Army continues achieving NATO standards. To this end, the army is gradually freed from the additional functions that are not relevant to its operations - various assignments related to the management, security and service.

The Defense Ministry reported that the civilians are absorbed into the military units to offer certain services.

"A considerable number of civilians were recruited by the armed forces in a short span of time. As a result, the main attention of the army has been directed at the combat training," the ministry reported.

The ministry said civilians are employed in various civilian professions such as cook, mechanic, driver, cleaner, yardman, and etc.

Defense Minister Colonel-General Zakir Hasanov earlier said the trend will allow soldiers to engage more in combat training. Hasanov said the main goal is that the army can achieve accepted international standards.

The ministry further noted that a growing number of former servicemen and various veterans' organizations expressed their readiness to take part in operations to liberate occupied territories, and to serve on the front lines.

The ministry underlined that the trend has intensified after cases of ceasefire violation by the enemy got on the rise since the beginning of 2014.

The ministry said, if there is a need for qualified military personnel, the army will call up men with an appropriate age limit, good health, a high military training and discipline.

Armenia occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions, after laying territorial claims against its South Caucasus neighbor that caused a brutal war in the early 1990s.

The UN Security Council's four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal have not been enforced to this day.

Peace talks, mediated by Russia, France and the US and the OSCE Minsk Group are underway on the basis of a peaceful outline -called Madrid Principle -proposed by the Minsk Group co-chairs. The negotiations have been largely fruitless so far.