Azerbaijani army fully controls situation on frontline

/By AzerNews/

By Sara Rajabova

The Azerbaijani Army has turned into the most powerful army in the South Caucasus thanks to the attention and care of President and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces Ilham Aliyev.

Colonel-General Zakir Hasanov, Azerbaijan’s Defense Minister made the preceding remark on the eve of the 97th anniversary of the establishment of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces.

He noted that the Azerbaijani Army is at the forefront in the Commonwealth of Independent States for the level of combat readiness.

Hasanov added that as mandated by the Supreme Commander, 2015 has been declared the year of the combat readiness for the armed forces.

“Preference is given to the preparation for a fight in field conditions, also at night time, directly in line with combat conditions. Large-scale exercises at various levels in all the compounds of the armed forces have been held in the daytime, as well as at night time,” the defense minister said.

He stressed that new military polygons had been created in a short time, thereby establishing the conditions to further increase the combat readiness of troops. He also added that the staff of the armed forces participates in various international exercises.

Hasanov further said both in the previous and current year, a trilateral meeting of the defense ministers of Azerbaijan, Turkey and Georgia was held, where the sides discussed issues of strengthening cooperation and regional security. He said a tripartite coordination group was established as a result of these meetings.

He also noted that the strong suppression of attempts by the Armenian armed forces to commit acts of sabotage on the contact line of troops once again proves that the Azerbaijani army is strong.

"The Armenian side is trying to hide the losses. But we are fully aware of the situation. The situation in Armenia and in the occupied territories is quite deplorable. The culprit of this situation is the Armenian criminal regime. Armenia attracts civilians on combat duty due to the lack of soldiers. In addition, mercenaries from different countries, including Lebanon and Syria are also involved," Hasanov said.

He also went on to say that the Azerbaijani army fully controls the situation on the front line.

“Having demonstrated its strength to the enemy, we have made it clear that only way to resolve conflict is unconditional withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from the occupied Azerbaijani territories. The enemy must realize that. The only task of the personnel of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces is always to be ready to defeat the enemy. We are ready for this, a strong potential of our army gives grounds to say that all the plans and tasks will be successfully fulfilled,” Hasanov said.