PRESIDENT ILHAM ALIYEV: "AZERBAIJANI ARMED FORCES ARE THE STRONGEST ARMY OF THE REGION"

Azeri Press Agency
June 26 2008
Azerbaijan

Baku-APA. President of Azerbaijan, Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the
Armed Forces Ilham Aliyev addressed the military parade on June 26 in
Azadlig Square dedicated to the 90th anniversary of Azerbaijani Army.

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 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 the nationwide leader Heydar Aliyev returned
to Azerbaijan’s leadership. The state-building process was carried
out very rapidly thank to Heydar Aliyev’s extraordinary merits".

The President said all necessary measures were taken today to make
the army strongest and professionalism was increasing. "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 less for
ten times 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 needs 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.