AZERBAIJAN: Azerbaijan holds the biggest military parade since declaring independence in 1991

Record ID: 218596

  • Title: AZERBAIJAN: Azerbaijan holds the biggest military parade since declaring independence in 1991
  • Date: 26th June 2013
  • Summary: BAKU, AZERBAIJAN (JUNE 26, 2013) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WAVING
  • Embargoed: 11th July 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Azerbaijan
  • Country: Azerbaijan
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVACFWREKYPSYZVVDMLKBJJJX27G
  • Story Text: The army must be ready to free Azerbaijani land from the enemy, President Aliyev says while addressing troops during one of the biggest military parades held in the capital Baku.

    Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, speaking during the biggest military parade on Wednesday (June 26) in Baku since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, warned his army it should be ready to gain control of the territories disputed with neighbouring Armenia.
    "The first stage of the war is over, but our army should be constantly ready to free our land by any possible means," Aliev said in his address to more than 5000 troops lined up at attention in central Baku.
    "We have bought dozens of fighter jets, the most modern anti-aircraft missile, armoured vehicles, modern tanks, different artillery ordinance capable of reaching and destroying any weapon of our enemy. And we continue this process," Aliev said in the nation-wide televised address at the start of parade dedicated to armed forces day.
    Azerbaijan and Armenia, who fought a war over Nagorno-Karabakh that killed about 30,000 on both sides, concluded a ceasefire in 1994. Attempts by the United States, Russia and France to reconcile the two post-Soviet foes have fallen short.
    Troops marched across Liberty square in central Baku, along with convoys of infantry combat vehicles and self-propelled anti-aircraft missile launchers "?-90?" tanks, about 100 "BMP-3" infantry combat vehicles, 18 "MSTA-S" self-propelled howitzers, 18 "Smerch" heavy multiple rocket launchers, 18 "Vena" self-propelled mortar systems, and 6 "T?S-1?" heavy flame thrower systems.
    Warplanes, helicopters and drones cruised over the city, as TV aired footage of battleships on duty off the Azeri Caspian coast.
    Baku and Yerevan failed to agree on a framework document to set the stage for a resolution of their conflict during a meeting hosted by President Dmitry Medvedev in the Russian city of Kazan in 2010 and little progress has bin achieved ever since.
    The Mood on Baku street was festive and majority of the residents said they were proud and convinced the "mighty" army was the only solution to Nagorno-Karabakh unresolved problem.
    Sporadic fighting between Christian Armenians and Muslim Azeris erupted in all-out war in 1991 accompanied by the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Fighting stopped in 1994, when the rivals agreed on a ceasefire, but gunfire and landmines frequently kill soldiers on both sides.
    "I think that our (army) will free Nagorno-Karabakh through military actions as we lost hope in solving the Nagorno-Karabakh problem by peaceful negotiations," Baku resident Kasim Musiyev, told Reuters by the end of the parade.
    Rufat Shiriev, who remembered the war and its consequences was a bit less straightforward, but said he was impressed with what he saw and was sure troops were ready to tackle "obstacles."
    "(It is a) strong army! I hope we would be able to overcome all the obstacles on the way with the help of our army, if we would need it," Shiriev said.
    Aliyev boosted the country's military spending to $3.3 billion in 2011, from just $160 million in 2003.
    The military equipment was purchased in 2012 from Russia and Israel.
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