TODAY.AZ / Politics

President: Azerbaijan is strong state with strong army

28 June 2016 [15:15] - TODAY.AZ

/By Azernews/

By Gulgiz Dadashova

Azerbaijan continues and will further continue to strengthen its army, its material and technical base, at the same time, solve everyday problems of servicemen.

Azerbaijan’s President, Supreme Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev stated about it as he was making a speech at the ceremony to present apartments for servicemen on June 25.

The bloc of flats was constructed in Khatai district of Baku in accordance with President Aliyev's order on measures to strengthen social protection of servicemen of the Defense Ministry.

In his address to the servicemen, the president highlighted the army building measures, noting the refurbishment being carried out in military units and military camps located in different territories of Azerbaijan, as well as construction of new military bases being constructed upon the relevant instructions.

Today, the Azerbaijani Army is one of the strongest armies in terms of material and technical equipment, President Aliyev emphasized, mentioning that the purchased equipment, weapons and ammunition meet the highest standards.

“Today our army is using a weapon with high accuracy and very high destructive power. That is, all our military needs are provided,” the president said, further hailing the fact that now soldiers are not involved in the civil works in the military units.

Explaining the aim of bringing civilians to works in military units, the president said on the one hand soldiers serve decently in the army and raise their professionalism, on the other hand this means creating new jobs for civilians.

The supreme commander-in-chief also touched upon the military-industrial complex created in the country.

“We produce military products of more than a thousand names. This ensures the needs of our army, at the same time, we have already reached foreign markets,” he said adding that the imported weapons and ammunition is the most modern one and is of high technological level.

“Recently, I gave instructions to further expand and improve the logistics base. Azerbaijan is importing new weapons and technology. This process is underway for past few months and it will continue. We have enough material resources, and we buy military products in many countries. That is to say that we are not dependent on a single source. In this area, as in all other areas, we are on the path of diversification,” he said.

President Aliyev has reminded that the army building is not limited to logistical support, and here an important place is occupied by combat capability, morale of soldiers and officers.

“I can confidently say that from this point of view, the Azerbaijani army is among the strongest armies. Fighting ability is boosting, moral and psychological atmosphere in the army is very positive, patriotic spirit and discipline is at a high level. Of course, all these factors multiply our military power. In recent years, I have repeatedly pointed out that today the Azerbaijani army is among the strongest armies in the world scale, and the April fighting once again confirmed it,” he said.

Azerbaijan does not only enjoy economic and industrial power, but has already made great strides in the military sphere, the President emphasized.

“We live in a state of war, of course, the military issues are given the utmost attention. This is the main priority issue in our daily work, and, as I have already noted, this policy is reflected in the state budget,” he added.

Reminding that 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized lands are under the Armenian occupation, President Aliyev said Azerbaijan certainly needs to step up its military power given that documents and resolutions adopted by international organizations are not fulfilled, remain on paper, and international law, in fact, does not work.

“Armenia has resorted to provocation against us in April to violate and breach the negotiations process,” the president said adding that Azerbaijan’s army gave strong response to this attack and liberated some part of the occupied lands.

“I am sure that these events have become a serious signal for Armenia, as well as for those involved in the matter. Because, the desire of Armenia is not a secret. They want to see this process to be ever-lasting, to maintain the status quo. Seeing that the pressure of international mediators on them increases, they resort to various provocations,” he underlined.

President Aliyev emphasized that the conflict must be resolved in a short time, a solution should be find on the basis of norms and principles of international law. “There is no change in our position, and it cannot be,” he stressed.

The supreme-commander in chief also spoke about the peace talks that were resumed following the April escalation with mediation of the OSCE MG co-chair states.

“The Azerbaijani side has joined the talks without accepting any conditions [earlier set by Armenia]. The Vienna meeting was held on the initiative of the U.S. I believe that this meeting had positive results. That is, the conditions put forward by the Armenian side were not accepted. In Vienna, the Azerbaijani side has not signed any document. Simply co-chairing countries made a statement, and this is their statement,” he said.

The president has positively assessed the holding of a meeting in St. Petersburg on the initiative of Russia only a month after the Vienna meeting.

“I want to note that I believe that the meeting in St. Petersburg has positive results. I hope that this process will rapidly continue. Once again, we are going to these talks without accepting any conditions. Negotiations should be meaningful, substantive, they should not be held just for appearances and imitation,” he added.

Touching upon the joint declaration adopted after the St. Petersburg meeting, the president said the declaration covers every point, particularly, ways of solving the issue.

“Increasing the number of the office workers of the personal representative of the OSCE chairman was also discussed. However, their number is not specified. But I can say that if today six people work there, the number can be increased to a maximum of 2-2.5 times. That is, we are not talking about large mission. If we consider that the line of contact is measured in tens of kilometers, it should not be sought in other sense. The mandate of the office is also in place, there are no changes. Just instead of six there can be 12, 13 or 14 people, that's all,” the president explained.

As for the application of a mechanism for investigating incidents put forward by Armenia as a condition, there is no need for this, believes President Alike.

“Firstly, there are no such arrangements. No one is telling us exactly what they will be. In this case, considering this question today would be wrong. Secondly, what is the meaning of this. If the idea is to freeze the conflict and take any additional action on the contact line, Azerbaijan, of course, will not agree. This is possible if the negotiation process continues with the positive dynamics. We will see concrete results and we will know when our lands will be liberated from the occupation. Then, of course, a variety of mechanisms can be developed and the matter can be discussed.

President Aliyev once more stated that the talks should be carried out on the essence of the problem.

“Aggressive policy of Armenia must end. We need to know when the process of liberation of our lands will begin. This process, of course, will be. The Azerbaijani side and I personally have repeatedly said that we can resolve the conflict only gradually, since otherwise it is impossible. Armenia has always tried to further complicate the situation, to break the negotiation process, as well as the option of a phased solution. But we believe that it is the most appropriate way. It can lead to resolution of the question in short time,” he explained.

Emphasizing that no change should be expected in Azerbaijan’s position, the president reminded that the resolution of the conflict can be only within the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

“As for status of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, it is the issue of the future. Of course, a certain status can be. Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic exists as part of Azerbaijan. It has a status of autonomy. In Europe, other countries have a progressive experience and different statuses. However, this status should not violate the territorial integrity of our country,” he stressed.

The supreme-commander in chief once again stressed that the Azerbaijani state will continue to pay serious attention to army building.

“The army building will always remain a priority. Today, the Azerbaijani army is ready, able to perform any task,” he said, stressing that the nation is proud to have a powerful army.

“Azerbaijan is a strong state with a strong army,” the supreme-commander in chief concluded.

Then, President Aliyev presented apartment ownership certificates to a group of servicemen.

On the same day, Supreme Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev inaugurated a new administrative building of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, and reviewed conditions created here.

Then President Ilham Aliyev familiarized himself with the activity of the Central Command Post.

Defense Minister, Colonel-General Zakir Hasanov, Chief of General Staff of Azerbaijan`s Armed Forces and Deputy Minister of Defense, Colonel General Najmaddin Sadikov informed the head of state that all conditions were created here for 140 servicemen.

The supreme commander-in-chief viewed multi-purpose military hardware.


URL: http://www.today.az/news/politics/152153.html

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