The Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Azerbaijan () or MN is an

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

i government agency that is associated with the Azerbaijani military. The ministry is responsible for keeping Azerbaijan defended against external threats, preserving its territorial integrity, waging war on behalf of Azerbaijan (for example, Azerbaijan's contribution to the War on Terror), and the surveillance of the Azerbaijani sector of the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, described as the List of lakes by area, world's largest lake and usually referred to as a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia: east of the Caucasus, ...

sea and airspace. The Minister of Defence is appointed and removed from the post by the Commander-in-chief of the

Azerbaijani Armed Forces The Azerbaijani Armed Forces () is the military of the Azerbaijan, Republic of Azerbaijan. It was re-established according to the country's Law of the Armed Forces on 9 October 1991. The original Azerbaijan Democratic Republic's armed forces were ...

, the

President of Azerbaijan The president of the Republic of Azerbaijan is the head of state of the Azerbaijan, Republic of Azerbaijan. The Constitution of Azerbaijan, Constitution states that the president is the embodiment of Executive (government), executive power, co ...

. The ministry building is located in

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

, at 3 Parliament Avenue.

History

The first defence minister of the

Azerbaijan Democratic Republic The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (), also known as the Azerbaijan People's Republic (; ), was the first secular democracy, democratic republic in the Turkic peoples, Turkic and Muslim worlds. *Tadeusz Swietochowski. ''Russia and Azerbaijan: ...

was General Khosrov bey Sultanov, who was appointed on 28 May 1918. In accordance with the Action Plan approved by Parliament on formation of the army, important structures and divisions were to be established by 1 November 1919. Within the time allotted, an artillery division, and two infantry divisions consisting of three regiments, a special telegraph, cavalry and machine gun platoons, railway battalions were to be created. Another priority of the government of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was to establish the Ministry of Defence. No minister of defence portfolio was officially instituted but Khosrov bey Sultanov assumed the duties of the minister from 28 May 28 through to 11 June 11, 1918. The Ministry of Defence of the

was established by a decision made on 23 October 1918. This decision was formalized on 7 November 7 of the same year. After formalization of the decision Fatali-khan Khoyski was appointed the minister of defence. On 26 December 1918 Lieutenant General of the Russian Artillery Samad-bey Mehmandarov took office. Lieutenant General Aliagha Shikhlinski was appointed his deputy and Lieutenant General Suleyman Shulkevitch as the Chief of the General Staff. As the Ministry of Defence was officially dissolved in the wake of Azerbaijan's Sovietization in 1920, their functions were delegated to the People's Military Commissariat, and the Bolsheviks executed 15 of the 21 Army Generals of Azerbaijan. The newly-formed

Azerbaijani Red Army Azerbaijani Red Army (; , abbreviated as AzKA), also known as the Red Army of Azerbaijan (), was a field army of the pro-Bolshevik Red Army in the Azerbaijani Soviet Socialist Republic during the Russian Civil War. History Initial developm ...

replaced the previous army during the

Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...

. In the midst of the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

and political turmoil in Azerbaijan in the late 1980s, the Azerbaijani military played an important role in the struggle for and retention of power. The Ministry of Defence was established on 5 September 1991, following a resolution by the High Council of the Azerbaijan SSR. One month later, on 9 October, the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan was established.

Leadership

* Minister of Defence: Colonel General

Zakir Hasanov Zakir Asger oghlu Hasanov (; born 6 June 1959) is an Azerbaijani politician and colonel general who has been the Ministry of Defence (Azerbaijan), Minister of Defence of Azerbaijan since 2013. Early life and education He was born on 6 June 1959 ...

Chief of the General Staff The Chief of the General Staff (CGS) is a post in many armed forces (militaries), the head of the military staff. List * Chief of the General Staff (Abkhazia) * Chief of General Staff (Afghanistan) * Chief of the General Staff (Albania) * C ...

– First Deputy Minister of Defence: Lieutenant General Karim Valiyev * Deputy Minister of Defence – Commander of the Combined Arms Army: Colonel General Kerem Mustafayev * Deputy Minister of Defence – Chief of Main Department for Personnel: Lieutenant General Karim Valiyev * Acting Deputy Minister of Defence for Logistics – Chief of the Main Department of Logistics: Lieutenant General Nizam Osmanov * Deputy Minister of Defence – Commander of the Air Force: Lieutenant General Ramiz Tahirov * Deputy Minister of Defence – Commander of the Land Forces: Lieutenant General Hikmat Mirzayev

Structure

The ministry has the following structure: * Central Command Post * Main Department of Personnel ** Office for Women and Families of Servicemen ** Military Band Service * Main Department of Logistics * Main Department of Combat Training and Military Education * Main Medical Department * Organization and Mobilization Department * Department of Staff * Department for Ideological Work and Moral-Psychological Support * Legal Department * Department of Finance and Budget * Department of Affairs * Department for Municipal Services * Department for Defence Procurement and Equipment * Baku Garrison *

Military Police Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. Not to be confused with civilian police, who are legally part of the civilian populace. In wartime operations, the military police may supp ...

* Institutions ** "Azərbaycan Ordusu" newspaper ** Central Clinical Hospital ** Research Centre ** Centre for Documentary and Educational Films of the Azerbaijan Army ** Military Scientific Centre ** Centre for War Games of the Armed Forces ** Army Ideological and Cultural Centre named after

Hazi Aslanov Hazi Ahad oghlu Aslanov (; ; commonly described as Azi Aslanov or A. A. Aslanov,Aleksander A. Maslov, David M. Glantz, ''Fallen Soviet Generals: Soviet General Officers Killed in Battle, 1941-1945'', Routledge, 1998, p. 251./ref> 1910 – 25 Ja ...

*** Song and Dance Ensemble **Ideological and Cultural Centre of the Ganja Garrison **Azerbaijan Military History Museum **

MOIK Baku MOIK Baku is an Azerbaijani football club, based in Baku. MOIK was originally built around the concept of military sports club such as CSKA Moscow, CSKA Sofia. History The club was established under the name OIK (; ) in 1961 as sport society of ...

Educational institutions under the ministry

* Military academies ** War College of the Armed Forces ** Training and Education Centre of the Armed Forces ** Azerbaijan Higher Military Academy *** Azerbaijan Higher Naval Academy (former independent institution) *** Azerbaijan High Military Aviation School (former independent institution) * Other educational institutions ** Secondary Military Medical School of Azerbaijan ** Military Medical Faculty of

Azerbaijan Medical University Azerbaijan Medical University () is a public medical school located in Baku, Azerbaijan. Due to difficulties with translation, the school is sometimes called: Azerbaijan Medical University, Azerbaijan State Medical University, Azerbaijan State Me ...

* Military lyceums **

Jamshid Nakhchivanski Military Lyceum Jamshid Nakhchivanski Military Lyceum (), also known as Military Lyceum named after Jamshid Nakhchivanski, is a state school, specializing in education and training of students in military science and preparing them for professional military servi ...

** Heydar Aliyev Military Lyceum The military education system of the Ministry of Defence is composed of educational institutions specialized on military and other relevant agencies that mainly focus on training and building a qualified and patriotic staff who are expected to implement the duties and tasks of armed forces and at the same time having adequate knowledge based on education standards of the country for guaranteeing the defence and security of

International military cooperation

The main directions of international military cooperation: * Bilateral and multilateral cooperation with countries in the region and beyond; * Cooperation with the Euro-Atlantic structures; * Cooperation with international organizations and defence-industrial complexes of foreign countries; * Cooperation on military, military-political and military-technical issues to improve military security system; * Study new programmes and mechanisms * Broadening the participation in inspection activities set out under the Vienna Document 2011 "On Confidence and Security-Building Measures" and to the Treaty 1990 "On Conventional Armed Forces in Europe" ( CFE); * Expanding the activities related to crisis prevention and armed conflicts management, as well as resolution and elimination of their consequences, with a focus on conflicting efforts to combat international terrorism, the proliferation of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction, their components and vehicles, modern global challenges and threats arising from military operations; * Broadening the scope of activities related to the fulfilment of commitments and obligations arising out of the cooperation with international organizations and military organizations of foreign countries in the area of international military cooperation; * Providing more effective training for military personnel and units, whose participation in peacekeeping operations are planned, the study of international experience and application capabilities to contribute to improvement of the level of combat training and its compatibility.

Cooperation with
OSCE The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is a regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization comprising member states in Europe, North America, and Asia. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, the pr ...

The Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Azerbaijan supports the Office of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office to conduct a ceasefire monitoring exercises on the Line of Confrontation of the armed forces of Armenia and Azerbaijan as well as on the state border.

Cooperation with
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

The Republic of Azerbaijan joined the NATO-led "Partnership for Peace" (PFP) programme on 4 May 1994, and the NATO Planning and Review Process (PARP) in 1996. Azerbaijan joined the NATO military training and education programme aimed at improving the school of sergeants in the Armed Forces of the Republic of Azerbaijan, training programmes for junior officers and the inclusion of the subject "Strategy and Defence Planning" in the educational programme of the Academy of Armed Forces as a new module. Azerbaijan has become a reliable partner in NATO-led operations in Kosovo and Afghanistan, and still contributes to the alliance's mission in Afghanistan by deploying its peacekeeping forces there. Furthermore, on NATO's advice, Azerbaijan developed strategic documents on defence and security, and made improvements in this direction. Besides this, NATO and Azerbaijan cooperate on reorganizing units in accordance with NATO standards and on developing control and command capabilities for each armed service.

Cooperation with
ICRC The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is a humanitarian organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, and is a three-time Nobel Prize laureate. The organization has played an instrumental role in the development of rules of war and ...

Cooperation between the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the International Committee of the

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

(ICRC) covers the issues of providing educational materials on

International Humanitarian Law International humanitarian law (IHL), also referred to as the laws of armed conflict or the laws of war, is the law that regulates the conduct of war (''wikt:jus in bello, jus in bello''). It is a branch of international law that seeks to limit ...

(IHL) for the Armed Forces of the Republic of Azerbaijan, delivering lectures on IHL in the Military Academy of the Armed Forces, and conducting training and seminars on IHL for servicemen, ensuring their participation in regional and international courses. Cooperation also helps to monitor the civilian population's living conditions in the areas near the Line of Confrontation (LOC) between the armed forces of Armenia and

, through visits to these places, creating conditions for the agricultural activities of the civilian population living near the Line of Confrontation of the armed forces of the Armenia and Azerbaijan through launching some social orientated projects, alongside cooperation in arranging and conducting humanitarian assistance.

List of ministers

ADR

Heads of Military Department of Azerbaijan SSR

People's Commissar Commissar (or sometimes ''Kommissar'') is an English language, English transliteration of the Russian language, Russian (''komissar''), which means 'commissary'. In English, the transliteration ''commissar'' often refers specifically to the pol ...

s for Military and Naval Affairs of Azerbaijan SSR''

Azerbaijan Republic

References

External links

Official Website

Azerbaijani Army being reformed according to NATO standards
{{DEFAULTSORT:Minister of Defense (Azerbaijan) Government of Azerbaijan

Military of Azerbaijan

Defense Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...

1991 establishments in Azerbaijan