Defense Minister checks air force capabilities
By Mushvig Mehdiyev
Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry has once more checked and improved the combat readiness of the country's military amid the start of a new training year in 2015.
To this end, Colonel-General Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov evaluated the combat readiness of the air forces on January 15 and got familiar closely with the latest conditions of air forces units.
During his visit to a military base, the air forces personnel demonstrated their capabilities. Hasanov also closely monitored the works of anti-aircraft forces to protect the important facilities of the state.
Then, he appreciated the training and combat skills of the personnel and assigned certain tasks to the army commanders to improve the military capabilities.
Azerbaijani authorities pay special attention to the combat readiness of the army, as the high-ranking military officials conduct regular visits to various military units, including the air, ground and maritime forces.
Earlier in December, Hasanov said the main objective of Azerbaijan in 2015 is to fulfill its commitment to liberate the country’s occupied territories with more fighting capacity of the armed forces.
He has also announced that Azerbaijan is not a country to tolerate the Armenian aggression for a long time and can liberate its occupied lands by military means.
The ongoing conflict with the occupant Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions, historical lands of Azerbaijan, has put the country on a high alert against continuous Armenian provocations.
Daily breaches of the ceasefire prove the aggressive nature of Armenia, putting a spoke into the peace negotiations. That's why, high combat readiness of the troops is vital important for Azerbaijan as long as Armenia evades from peace talks and threatens to deepen the conflict.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan.
As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the US are currently holding peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.
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