BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 30. The establishment of Special Forces justified itself in our historic victory in the second Karabakh war, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Ilham Aliyev said making a speech during his visit to a military unit of the Special Forces of the Defense Ministry as the Special Forces mark the 23rd anniversary of its establishment, Trend reports.
"Twenty-three years ago, by a decree of great leader Heydar Aliyev, Special Forces were established in Azerbaijan. By signing that decree, the great leader once again showed great foresight. The establishment of Special Forces justified itself in our historic victory in the second Karabakh war.
In 1999, the situation was different. Hopes for a peaceful
settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict had
not yet been dashed. However, on the basis of Heydar Aliyev's
decision, a special military unit was established in Azerbaijan’s
Armed Forces, and since then special forces have played a
tremendous role in achieving our historic victory, having covered a
great and glorious road and showing unparalleled heroism in the
Patriotic War.
The reasons for our defeat in the first Karabakh war are clear. At
that time, there was no regular army in Azerbaijan. No army
building was carried out and the country's leadership was unable to
fulfill its duties. The occupation of Shusha and Lachin in May 1992
and the occupation of Kalbajar in April 1993 established a
geographical link between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia. Thus, the
occupation of our lands, unfortunately, became a reality.
The Patriotic War is our glorious history. The people of Azerbaijan supported their army, backed it, all Azerbaijani citizens rallied around it, all Azerbaijanis of the world united. We united like a fist and inflicted such crushing blows on the enemy that they are still unable to recover. The Armenian army was completely crushed in 44 days. The remains of the Armenian army are on display in the Military Trophy Park in the center of Baku. The Armenian leadership used to threaten us with a new war. They were saying that if Azerbaijan wanted to resolve this issue by military means, then Armenian tanks would be on the streets of Baku. Indeed, Armenian tanks are on the streets of Baku. We have destroyed and brought them here. Now those tanks, as well as cannons and other equipment are on display at the Military Trophy Park," the head of state said.