President Ilham Aliyev: "War has not ended yet and we should be ready to liberate our lands anytime"

The head of state congratulated Azerbaijani People on this occasion and called the formation of the army as a remarkable day in the country’s history, APA reports. The President said while Azerbaijan was restoring its state independence in 1991, the formation of the National Army became a necessity.

"Unfortunately, Azerbaijan couldn’t establish its regular army in the first years of independence. The army-building process began only in 1993, when nationwide leader Heydar Aliyev returned to Azerbaijan. The state-building process was carried out very rapidly thank to Heydar Aliyev’s extraordinary merits".

The President said all necessary measures are taken today to make the army the strongest one and raise its professionalism.

"I am very glad that today Azerbaijani Army meets the highest standards".

Ilham Aliyev said alongside with the professionalism, the material and technical basis of the army was also strengthened and great work had been done in this direction.

"Azerbaijan’s military expenditures were ten times lower in 2003. Today Azerbaijan’s total military expenditures are more than 2 billion dollars. The military expenditures take first place in the Government’s budget and I am sure it will be so further".

The head of state noted that he supported the local production of ammunitions and military technical equipments the Azerbaijani Army needed.

" It is necessary to bring new technologies in the country, to train professionals and to allocate necessary financial resources for that. Azerbaijan has all these factors".

Ilham Aliyev said military expenses were equal to the government expenditures and noted that the expenses would be increased more. The Supreme Commander-in-Chief noted that Azerbaijan was at war, the war had not finished yet and said:
"We should be ready to liberate our lands, for this purpose we establish a strong army".

Touching upon the long-lasting negotiations on the settlement of Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, Ilham Aliyev said that Azerbaijani People got tired of these negotiations.

"We consider that the negotiations cannot be held eternally. Of course, there are improvements in the process of negotiations. The proposals discussed now are based on the principles of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity. The proposals on the table do not contain any mechanisms for separating Nagorno Karabakh from Azerbaijan," he said.

The President stated Armenia ignored international legal norms and added that Azerbaijan intended to continue the negotiations.

"I am sure that we will mobilize all our efforts and achieve our goal by strengthening our diplomatic, economic and military policy. Justice, international community, economic opportunities, military power are in favor of us," he said.

The President said Azerbaijani Army was the strongest army of the region and underlined that all steps would be taken to strengthen the army.

Ilham Aliyev regarded the military parade as a great event and congratulated the personnel of the Armed Forces and Azerbaijani People on this day.

/APA/