Baku, Azerbaijan, April 19
By Ilkin Izzet - Trend:
The soldiers of the Azerbaijani Army are not afraid of the enemy, and are always ready to defend the Motherland, the Azerbaijani Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov told journalists.
Answering the question about the tense situation on the contact line of the Azerbaijani and Armenian troops, the minister said that the information about the situation does not correspond to reality.
"The ceasefire regime is regularly violated. However, everyone can be sure that the Azerbaijani army is the strongest in the region and is in a state ready to respond to the enemy and does respond," the minister said.
"In accordance with the instructions of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev the reforms continue in the Armed Forces. Separate combined-arms army was created in order to strengthen the defense of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic as a part of these reforms. We have conducted large-scale exercises in Nakhchivan with the purpose of testing its activities and combat readiness. Some 11 brigades participated in the exercises, which demonstrated high combat readiness. As a minister, I am very satisfied with the combat readiness. We are pleased with the state of the arming and morale of the personnel. We confident that the Separate combined-arms army in Nakhchivan will implement all tasks at a high level," Hasanov said.
The minister also commented on the threat from Russia to the post-Soviet countries.
"We do not see such a threat. Azerbaijan is a steadily developing country, the army is developing as are the other areas. As you have witnessed, the Azerbaijani army is provided with new weapons, and this will be continued. As a result of the President`s care, Azerbaijan is developing day by day. Being part of the military, I want to note especially that personnel make every effort to justify the confidence of the President and continue to be ready to perform its tasks," the minister said.