Azerbaijani army stands ready for decisive blow on enemy

/By AzerNews/

By Mushvig Mehdiyev

Azerbaijan Special Forces celebrated the 16th anniversary of their establishment on April 29.

Visiting one of the newly established Special Forces units, Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov and Senior Deputy Defense Minister, Chief of Staff of the Army, Najmaddin Sadigov presented the war flag to the unit commanders in keeping with the Supreme Commander in Chief's order.

Addressing the ceremony, Hasanov said the Special Forces successfully conducted numerous operations against the enemy forces since their establishment 16 years ago.

"Azerbaijani men, who are loyal to the motherland and our nation and always ready to sacrifice themselves for the liberation of our lands, are serving here. The strength of our army is in the patriotism, heroism and professionalism of its personnel. The Special Forces possess these qualities at a high level," he said.

Hasanov noted that President Ilham Aliyev's calls on the liberation of the occupied territories set significant targets before the armed forces.

Referring to the recent armed outbreaks along the line of contact, the minister said those skirmishes resulted in huge material and manpower losses for the enemy's army, and shook its moral.

"The criminal military regime in Armenia is well aware of the strength and might of our army," Hasanov added.

The Azerbaijani army keeps the situation along the contact line under its control as it obtained full superiority over the enemy forces. Successful defensive and contr-attack operations against the enemy delivered a clear message to the Armenian leadership that the occupied lands could be liberated by means of war if peace negotiations were to fail.

Hasanov said that now the main target before the Azerbaijani army is to inflict decisive and destructive blows on the enemy to push them leave the occupied lands unconditionally. "Undoubtedly, our army would be able to fulfill this goal in a short period," he added.

Azerbaijani army's non-stop exercises prove that the entire armed forces is ready for any order from the Supreme Commander in Chief. The people and the government trust in the armed forces' strength and combat readiness. Hasanov said the army, in turn, is always ready to justify this trust and liberate the territories which remain under Armenian occupation.

As the country is suffering from the occupation of its internationally recognized lands, Azerbaijan's strong military skills should not be considered as an aggressive stance but rather the expression of Baku's desire to protect its people and land.

In one of his recent speeches, Hasanov said the Armenian authorities have already pushed the panic button over Azerbaijan's high-level combat and moral readiness. True to his nature, Hasanov once more announced that Azerbaijan will never allow Armenia's rulers to create a second Armenian state on Azerbaijani lands.

Azerbaijan's internationally recognized Nagorno-Karabakh territory became a conflict zone following Armenia's aggression in the early 1990s. As a result of Armenia's armed invasion, 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory fell under Armenia's occupation. Nonetheless, the OSCE has attempted to foster a peaceful resolution to this conflict amid Armenia's persistent derailments.