Azerbaijani Land Force
The Azerbaijani Land Force (Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan Silahlı Qüvvələri Quru Qoşunları) is the army of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces which is the military of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
| Azərbaycan Silahlı Qüvvələri Quru Qoşunları Azerbaijani Land Force | |
|---|---|
 The Flag of the Azerbaijani Land Forces | |
| Active | October 9, 1991 - present |
| Country |  Azerbaijan |
| Branch | Army |
| Type | Military |
| Role | Ground (land) warfare |
| Size | 56,840 ground force (land) troops 15,000 paramilitary troops |
| Garrison/HQ | Baku |
| Anniversaries | 1918 (first founding); October 9, 1991 (second founding) |
| Engagements | Nagorno-Karabakh War; peacekeeping roles in Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | -Samad bey Mehmandarov -Ali-Agha Shikhlinski -Mamedbey Sulkevich -Abdulhamid bey Gaitabashi |
Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Azerbaijan has been trying to further develop its armed forces into a professional, well trained, and mobile military. Based on 2007 statistics the country has about 56,840 ground force (land) troops, and a paramilitary force of 15,000 troops. There are 300,000 former service personnel who have had military service in the last fifteen years.[1]
In wartime, the Army proper could call the support of the paramilitary Azerbaijani National Guard, the Internal Troops of Azerbaijan, and the State Border Service of Azerbaijan (who patrol Azerbaijan's borders with Georgia, Russia, Iran, Turkey and Armenia), which can be involved in state defense. The exact wartime command structure is unknown.
Azerbaijan has also sent soldiers to be trained in Turkey, Russia and Israel over the past years, and these countries also sell weapons to Azerbaijan, among many countries. Since the end of the Nagorno-Karabakh War, Azerbaijan has made the army boost the defense of the country and possibly retake its separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh from neighboring enemy Armenia which invaded it, but is legally a part of Azerbaijan.
Related pages
References
- ↑ IISS (2007). The Military Balance 2007. London: Routledge for the IISS. p. 157. ISBN 978-1-85743-437-8.
Other websites
- Official site of Ministry of Defence Industry of Azerbaijan Republic
- Azerbaijani Army being reformed according to NATO standards Archived 2011-07-22 at the Wayback Machine
- U.S. Army War College Center for Strategic Leadership, Transformation of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, October 2008
- Official YouTube Channel of Azerbaijani Soldier program
