AzerNews Weekly
Dec 30 2009

Azeri lawmakers hail Turkey military aid accord

30-12-2009 05:16:11
The agreement on military assistance signed by Turkey and Azerbaijan
envisions Ankara’s supplying its ally with weapons, military machines
and, if necessary, soldiers, during the liberation of Upper (Nagorno)
Garabagh and other Armenia-occupied Azerbaijani territories,
Azerbaijani lawmakers have said.
The MPs said the Azerbaijani military and public should be ready for
war any time.
`The Azerbaijani public should be more actively involved in the
settlement of the Upper Garabagh conflict and be ready for the
president’s call to war any moment,’ MP Gultakin Hajibayli said.
She said the lack of substantial result of the mediating OSCE Minsk
Group’s efforts is prompting frequent talk of seeking a military
solution to the long-standing dispute.
`Undoubtedly, if Azerbaijan launches anti-terror operations to free
Upper Garabagh and other occupied territories, Turkey will be the only
force that will stand by us in these operations, as it has always
been. Turkey could supply Azerbaijan with arms and ammunition,
military machinery, and, if necessary, with manpower,’ Hajibayli said.
Another lawmaker, Malahat Ibrahimgyzy, said the signing of the
military aid agreement with Turkey indicates that the Azerbaijani
leadership has developed a substantial plan on resolving the Garabagh
conflict and is taking strides toward its implementation.
MP Vahid Ahmadov said that, since no substantial steps have been taken
to resolve the conflict within the Minsk Group-brokered peace process,
the Azerbaijani president is having to employ the military option of
conflict settlement.
`Both the Azerbaijani authorities and opposition are of the opinion
that the [occupied] land must be liberated. If this can’t be done by
peaceful means, war should definitely be waged.’
President Ilham Aliyev, in his recent statement on the Garabagh
conflict, called on the Azerbaijani military and public to be ready
any time to free the country’s land from the invaders.
Armenia and Azerbaijan waged a war over the mountainous region of
Upper Garabagh in the early 1990s which claimed some 30,000 lives.
Armenia has been occupying over 20% of Azerbaijan’s territory since
then, despite UN resolutions on unconditional pullout of its armed
forces and condemnation by a number of other international
organizations. One million Azerbaijanis have been displaced as a
result of ethnic cleansing and Azerbaijan’s historical and cultural
heritage has been significantly damaged in the occupied land. The
ceasefire accord was signed in 1994, but the OSCE-brokered peace talks
have been largely fruitless so far.*