BAKU: In Azerbaijan, June 26 is celebrated as a holiday – the Day of the Armed Forces. Note that on this day, 103 years ago, the first regular military unit – the Special Corps was set up by the decision of the Council of Ministers of the People’s Republic of Azerbaijan (1918-1920).
Following the restoration of Azerbaijan’s independence in 1991, the army holiday was celebrated on October 9 – when the first battalion of the future national army was created. This was the case until 1998 when by the decree of President Heydar Aliyev,June 26 was declared the Day of the Armed Forces.
An important milestone in the modern history of the Azerbaijani armed forces proved to be the 44 day Karabakh war last autumn when Fuzuli, Jabrayil, Zangilan, Gubadli districts, a part of the former Agdara district,village of Hadrut and a number of villages of the Khojavend district were liberated from the Armenian occupation. The culmination of the military campaign was a brilliant operation to liberate the fortress city of Shusha. After that,Armenia capitulated and withdrew its troops from Aghdam, Lachin and Kelbajar districts.
Speaker of Azerbaijan’s Parliament Sahiba Gafarova said, the speaker made the remark during an extraordinary meeting of the Parliament on June 25. Under the leadership of the President of Azerbaijan, Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Ilham Aliyev, the valiant Azerbaijani army has written a new,bright page in the heroic history of our people, Gafarova said.
“Azerbaijan defeated the Armenia, which held our lands under occupation for 30 years. Thus, Karabakh – the native Azerbaijani land – was liberated from occupation,” the speaker said.
“Currently, the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan fulfill the tasks assigned to them to protect the liberated lands from occupation,”Gafarova noted.
“We are returning to our native Karabakh. This right was returned to us by the heroic army and its Supreme Commander-in-Chief. The people of Azerbaijan are confident that the restoration work carried out in the liberated territories will not only radically change the appearance of the Karabakh region, but will also
open a new milestone in the history of Azerbaijan’s development.
The victorious people, whose flag flies in Shusha, Fuzuli, Jabrail, Zangilan, Gubadly, Lachin, Kalbajar, Aghdam,Hadrut village (Tartar district)and other cities and villages of Karabakh, will once again demonstrate to the world that they are both a creator and will restore settlements destroyed by Armenia,” said Gafarova. The speaker also expressed confidence in the further development of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces.