TRAIN HARD, FIGHT EASY

Azerbaijan celebrated the 96th anniversary of the formation of the Armed Forces by holding a large-scale joint operational and tactical exercise which involved units of the Ministry of Defence, Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the State Border Service. President of Azerbaijan and Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Ilham Aliyev watched the exercise in person. Before that, he was presented new and modern military equipment, weaponry and ammunition of the Azerbaijani army.

After the ceremonial review, demonstration firing from new weapon systems took place and a joint exercise of troops was conducted. In total, the exercise involved almost 4,000 men, 80 tanks, about 100 armoured vehicles, nearly 80 artillery systems, 10 combat aircraft, and up to 20 combat and combat-transport helicopters.

The exercise has again demonstrated a high level of logistical support of the Azerbaijani army, which is one of the strongest armies in the world in this respect. Azerbaijan's defence spending continues to be the largest item in the structure of the state budget. Over the past 10 years, this spending has increased more than 20-fold. This is not surprising given that more than 20 per cent of the country is still occupied by neighbouring Armenia. It is worth noting that Azerbaijan spends on its military needs almost twice the size of the entire state budget of Armenia.

Speaking to the military personnel, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief said: "The increase in military spending, which tops the budget expenditure, is a manifestation of our state policy. It is our priority, and we will continue to increase military spending." He added that Azerbaijan would continue to purchase weapons with high accuracy and great destructive power capabilities.

At the same time, the country has developed its own production of defence products. The factories of the Ministry of Defence Industry of Azerbaijan produce 900 items of arms and ammunition. "Azerbaijan lives in the state of war. In such circumstances, the building of the army should be the issue of paramount importance and top priority not only for the government agencies, but also for every citizen," the President said.

This approach is particularly relevant at a time when Armenia continues to ignore the resolutions of international organisations including the UN Security Council on the unconditional withdrawal of the occupying forces from the Azerbaijani territories, while the international community remains practically indifferent to this problem.

The President of Azerbaijan has once again drew attention to this matter: "Unfortunately, the mediators involved in this issue, the OSCE Minsk Group, are more concerned with the strengthening of measures of mutual trust rather than the peaceful settlement of the conflict. The withdrawal of Armenian troops from the occupied lands is at the top of the list of confidence building measures, and negotiations should be conducted on the merits. It is regrettable that in negotiating this issue, the mediators endeavour - not to restore justice, but to ensure that there is no war," Aliyev said. He noted that the forces which were seeking to maintain the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the frozen state had been successful thus far. However, while Azerbaijan is committed to a peaceful solution, it has no intention to put up with the status quo indefinitely. "In such circumstances, Azerbaijan has paid and will continue to pay increasingly more attention to army building, and if the talks fail, then we will have no other way," the Supreme Commander-in-Chief warned.

It is good to recall that at a cabinet meeting dedicated to the results of 2013, the President of Azerbaijan announced the beginning of a new phase in the army building. In an interview with ANS TV, Defence Minister Zakir Hasanov said that the country embarked on implementation of a new strategy. Under the instruction of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, the Regulation of the Armed Forces was updated to reflect the military-political situation in the region. The President also approved a new organisational and staff structure of the personnel, and the army was transferred to this new structure within a short period of time. As a follow-up to this work, all military units were provided with new weapons, modern armoured vehicles, missiles, and multiple launch rocket systems.

To improve service conditions still further, 10 new units will be formed before the end of this year.

Special attention was paid to the defence capabilities of the Nakhchivan [Naxcivan] Autonomous Republic. As directed by the President, a Separate Combined Arms Army was formed and manned on the basis of military units stationed that. To test its combat capability, a large-scale exercise was conducted in Naxcivan involving 20,000 troops and more than 400 combat vehicles and artillery installations, the Minister said.

A series of measures aimed at improving discipline in the armed forces in general is also being carried out. In particular, the number of staff officers responsible for discipline has been increased. Large work is performed in all areas, ranging from individual education of every soldier to formation of a team and cultivation of mutual respect between servicemen. A joint plan with the Military Prosecutor's Office is being implemented, under which prosecutors visit military units to brief personnel on various issues and raise their awareness of laws. By order of the Minister of Defence, trials of military discipline violators are conducted in their units in the presence of other potential offenders.

Furthermore, psychological tests are conducted among the soldiers. On behalf of the Minister, checks on moral and psychological condition as well as physical fitness of conscripts have been enhanced. Persons not meeting the criteria are excluded from military service. The ministry is confident that such comprehensive measures will contribute to increased discipline in the army.

Experts say that freeing soldiers from various fatigue duties associated with military service is an important aspect of reform of the army. Zakir Hasanov said that about 3,000 people from among civilian population had already been employed by the army for this purpose. "I will tell you a secret. In total, about 20,000 civilians will be taken on staff by the Ministry of Defence. This will make it possible to gradually release the soldiers and officers of any fatigue duties. They will only be engaged in combat training," the Minister said.

Particular attention is paid by the President to improving combat readiness. To this end, conscript soldiers serving on the positions directly affecting combat readiness will be replaced with contract soldiers. About 10,000 people are planned to be employed in such positions by the end of this year. This also means providing constant employment for a large number of residents of towns and villages near the border.

Of late, other new trends have taken root in the Azerbaijani army. Requirements for medical examination of conscripts have been enhanced, and even if a serious illness would manifest itself already during the service, then such a soldier would be relieved from further duty without question.

At the same time, the level of social protection of the military is on the rise. Wages and pensions are increasing, while families of the officers who have impeccably served for 20 years are provided with housing. New apartments have already been received by about 200 families of the military personnel, and towards the end of the year this number will reach 500.

Zakir Hasanov also noted the deepening of international cooperation of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces. Close cooperation in the sphere of defence is maintained with both Russia and NATO as well as with individual member countries of the alliance. The Minister admitted, however, that cooperation with NATO countries was hampered by certain difficulties. "These difficulties have to do with the fact that NATO countries do not sell us weapons. Thus, we cannot completely shift to their standards because to do so, we need to buy NATO weapons in the first place. Double standards are seen here too. Armenia has attacked Azerbaijan, occupied 20 per cent of its territory, but NATO does not sell weapons to Azerbaijan. We are told that, given the war, NATO cannot sell us weapons," the Defence Minister said.

It is no secret, however, that Azerbaijan has established close cooperation with Turkey, whose army is one of the strongest in NATO. Concurrently, negotiations with another immediate neighbour, Iran, are being conducted. The Minister confirmed that during his visit to Iran he invited his Iranian counterpart to visit Azerbaijan.

Thus, there is large-scale and dynamic work on army building that cannot but disturb the country which occupied one fifth of the Azerbaijani territory. Even if the possibility of a resumption of hostilities by Baku is now excluded in Yerevan, the negative impact of the rapid strengthening of economic and military power of Azerbaijan on the morale of the entire "personnel" of the neighbouring country cannot be ignored. In any case, all this is taking place before the eyes of the Armenian people which have become victims of aggressive policy of their state. And to divert attention of the domestic audience, Armenia makes provocations on the frontline, so that to channel the efforts of the international community to maintaining peace in the region rather than solving the problem properly.