Editing Azerbaijani Armed Forces (section)

==History of the Azerbaijani armed forces==
{{Main|Military history of Azerbaijan}}

===Azerbaijan Democratic Republic===
[[File:Two Azerbaijani soldiers 1919.png|thumb|175px|left|Two Azerbaijani soldiers, members of the Guba military unit of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (1919)]]
The history of the modern Azerbaijan army dates back to [[Azerbaijan Democratic Republic]] (ADR) in 1918, when the Armed Forces of the Republic of Azerbaijan were created on 26 June 1918. First ''de facto'' Minister of Defense of ADR was Dr. [[Khosrov bey Sultanov]]. When the Ministry was formally established, Gen. [[Samedbey Mehmandarov]] became the minister, and Lt-Gen. [[Ali-Agha Shikhlinski]] his deputy. Chiefs of Staff of ADR Army were Lt-Gen. [[Maciej Sulkiewicz]] (March 1919 – 10 December 1919) and Maj-Gen. Abdulhamid bey Gaitabashi (10 December 1919 – April 1920).<ref name="Azerbaijani Army marks 91 years">[http://en.apa.az/print.php?id=104326 Azerbaijani Army marks 91 years] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120225202625/http://en.apa.az/print.php?id=104326 |date=25 February 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.today.az/news/politics/53397.html|title=Azerbaijan marks Day of Armed Forces|access-date=27 June 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090629185253/http://www.today.az/news/politics/53397.html|archive-date=29 June 2009|url-status=live}}</ref>

The [[Red Army]] invaded Azerbaijan on 28 April 1920. Although the bulk of the newly formed Azerbaijani army was engaged in putting down an Armenian revolt that had just broken out in [[Karabakh]], the Azerbaijanis did not surrender their brief independence of 1918–20 quickly or easily. As many as 20,000 of the total 30,000 soldiers died resisting what was effectively a Russian reconquest.<ref>
Hugh Pope, "Sons of the conquerors: the rise of the Turkic world", New York: The Overlook Press, 2006, p. 116, {{ISBN|1-58567-804-X}}</ref> The national Army of Azerbaijan was abolished by the Bolshevik government, 15 of the 21 army generals were executed by the Bolsheviks.<ref name="Azerbaijani Army marks 91 years"/>
[[File:Army of Azerbaijan in 1918.jpg|thumb|Officers of the army of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic in 1918]]

=== Russian Civil War ===
After the Sovietisation of Azerbaijan, the newly formed [[Azerbaijani Red Army]] replaced the previous army, taking part in the [[Russian Civil War]], and the [[Red Army invasion of Georgia|invasion of Georgia]].<ref>{{Cite journal |first=Alexey B. |last=Stepanov |title=Азербайджанская Красная Армия. 1920—1924 |url=http://savash-az.com/rasskazi/AzRedArmy.htm |journal=Старый Цейхгауз |issue=25 |year=2008 |volume=1 |language=ru |page=32 |access-date=16 January 2021 |archive-date=9 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109153736/http://savash-az.com/rasskazi/AzRedArmy.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Zeynalov |first=R. |title=Военное строительство — военно-патриотическая и оборонно-массовая работа в Азербайджанской ССР в период строительства социализма (1920—июнь 1941 г.) |location=Baku |publisher=Elm |year=1990 |language=ru |pages=16–17 }}</ref>

=== World War II ===
[[File:Парад 1960 г. 6 рота.jpg|thumb|Cadets of the [[Baku Higher All-Arms Command School]] during a parade in Baku in 1960]]
During [[World War II]], Azerbaijan played a crucial role in the strategic energy policy of Soviet Union. Much of the Soviet Union's oil on the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]] was supplied by Baku. By a decree of the [[Supreme Soviet of the USSR]] in February 1942, the commitment of more than 500 workers and employees of the oil industry of Azerbaijan was recognised with orders and medals.
[[Operation Edelweiss]] carried out by the German [[Wehrmacht]] targeted [[Baku]] because of the importance of its oil fields to the USSR.<ref>[[Swietochowski, Tadeusz]](1995) ''Russia and Azerbaijan: A Borderland in Transition, Columbia University'', p. 133.</ref> Some 800,000 Azerbaijanis fought within the ranks of the Soviet Army of which 400,000 died. Azerbaijani national formations of the [[Red Army]] included the [[223rd Rifle Division|223rd]], [[227th Rifle Division|227th]], [[396th Rifle Division|396th]], [[402nd Rifle Division|402nd]], and [[416th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)|416th Rifle Division]]s. Azerbaijani Major-General [[Hazi Aslanov]] was awarded a second [[Hero of the Soviet Union]] after a long post-war fight for recognition of his accomplishments.

===Dissolution of the Soviet armed forces===
During the Cold War, Azerbaijan had been the deployment area of units of the Soviet [[4th Army (Soviet Union)|4th Army]] whose principal formations in 1988 included four motor rifle divisions ([[23rd Guards Motor Rifle Division|23rd Guards]], [[60th Motor Rifle Division|60th]], 75th, and [[295th Motor Rifle Division|295th]]).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ww2.dk/new/army/armies/4oa.htm|title=4th Combined Arms Army|website=www.ww2.dk|access-date=2016-08-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161211115719/http://www.ww2.dk/new/army/armies/4oa.htm|archive-date=11 December 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[75th Motor Rifle Division]] was isolated in [[Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic|Nakhchivan]]. The 4th Army also included missile and air defense brigades and artillery and rocket regiments. The 75th Division's stores and equipment were apparently transferred to the Nakhchivan authorities.<ref>See reference at [[7th Guards Army]] article.</ref> Azerbaijan also hosted the 49th Arsenal of the Soviet [[Main Agency of Missiles and Artillery of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation|Main Agency of Missiles and Artillery]], which contained over 7,000 train-car loads of ammunition to the excess of one billion units.

The first president of Azerbaijan, [[Ayaz Mutallibov]], did not wish to build an independent army, wanting to rely instead largely on Soviet troops. Even when the Parliament decided that an army should be formed in September 1991, disagreements between the government and the opposition [[Azerbaijani Popular Front Party]] impeded creation of a unified force.<ref>International Crisis Group, Azerbaijan: Defence Sector Management and Reform Crisis Group Europe Briefing N°50, 29 October 2008, p.3</ref> Around this time, the first unit of the new army was formed on the basis of the 18–110 military unit of [[mechanized infantry]] of the [[Soviet Ground Forces]] (probably part of the [[4th Army (Soviet Union)|4th Army]]) located in [[Bibiheybət|Shikhov]], south of Baku.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dejure.az/index.php/cra-hakimiyyti/70-nazirliklr/99-azrbaycan-respublikas-muedafi-nazirliyi |title=Azərbaycan Respublikası Müdafiə Nazirliyi. 1991-dən sonra |trans-title=Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan Republic. Events after 1991 |access-date=1 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100705150847/http://dejure.az/index.php/cra-hakimiyyti/70-nazirliklr/99-azrbaycan-respublikas-muedafi-nazirliyi |archive-date=5 July 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref> At the time of the parliamentary decision, Lieutenant-General [[Valeh Barshadli]] became the first [[Minister of Defense (Azerbaijan)|Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan]], from 5 September to 11 December 1991.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://e-qanun.az/print.php?internal=view&target=1&docid=6648&doctype=0 |title=Azərbaycan Respublikası Müdafiə Nazirliyinin yaradılması haqqında AZƏRBAYCAN RESPUBLİKASI PREZİDENTİNİN FƏRMANI |trans-title=Order of President of Azerbaijan Republic on establishment of Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan Republic |access-date=5 January 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111009183615/http://e-qanun.az/print.php?internal=view&target=1&docid=6648&doctype=0 |archive-date=9 October 2011 }}</ref> Later from May to 4 September 1992 he served as [[Chief of General Staff of Azerbaijani Armed Forces]].

=== Newly formed military ===
[[File:Рота почетного караула на параде, 1966 г.jpg|thumb|A Guard of Honor during a parade in Baku in 1966]]
In summer 1992, the nascent Defense Ministry received a resolution by the Azerbaijani president on the takeover of units and formations in Azerbaijani territory. It then forwarded an ultimatum to Moscow demanding control over vehicles and armaments of the 135th and 139th Motor Rifle Regiments of the [[295th Motor Rifle Division]].<ref>Vladimir Petrov, [http://mdb.cast.ru/mdb/4-2002/dp/hscwa/?form=print How South Caucasus was armed] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071024014020/http://mdb.cast.ru/mdb/4-2002/dp/hscwa/?form=print |date=24 October 2007 }}, Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies (Moscow, Russia)</ref> In July 1992, Azerbaijan ratified the [[Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe]] (CFE), which establishes comprehensive limits on key categories of conventional military equipment. 

The transfer of the property of the 4th Army (except for part of the property of the 366th Motor Rifle Regiment of the [[23rd Guards Motor Rifle Division]] captured by Armenian armed formations in 1992 during the regiment's withdrawal from Stepanakert) and the 49th arsenal was completed in 1992. Thus, by the end of 1992, Azerbaijan received arms and military hardware sufficient for approximately four motor rifle divisions with prescribed army units. It also inherited naval ships. There are also reports that 50 combat aircraft from the disbanded [[Baku Air Defence Army|19th Army]] of the [[Soviet Air Defence Forces]] came under Azerbaijani control.{{Citation needed|date=February 2010}}

“Full-fledged work on the creation of a national army in Azerbaijan began only in November 1993, when the ..situation.. began to stabilize.”<ref>JPRS Report. Central Eurasia: Military Affairs, 1995</ref> Articles for draft evasion and desertion were introduced. 

The Azerbaijani armed forces took a series of devastating defeats by Armenian forces<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/p/eur/rls/or/13508.htm |title=1993 UN Security Council Resolutions on Nagorno-Karabakh |access-date=25 May 2019 |archive-date=24 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201224204733/https://2001-2009.state.gov/p/eur/rls/or/13508.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> during the 1992–1994 [[First Nagorno-Karabakh War|Nagorno-Karabakh War]], which resulted in the loss of control of Nagorno-Karabakh proper and seven surrounding [[rayon]]s, comprising roughly 20%<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.balcanicaucaso.org/eng/Areas/Azerbaijan/IDPs-in-Azerbaijan-48091|title=IDPs in Azerbaijan|last=Caucaso|first=Osservatorio Balcani e|work=Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso|access-date=2017-09-26|language=it|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170920142918/https://www.balcanicaucaso.org/eng/Areas/Azerbaijan/IDPs-in-Azerbaijan-48091|archive-date=20 September 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.un.org/press/en/2008/ga10693.doc.htm|title=GENERAL ASSEMBLY ADOPTS RESOLUTION REAFFIRMING TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY OF AZERBAIJAN, DEMANDING WITHDRAWAL OF ALL ARMENIAN FORCES {{!}} Meetings Coverage and Press Releases|website=www.un.org|language=en|access-date=2017-09-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150818000902/http://www.un.org/press/en/2008/ga10693.doc.htm|archive-date=18 August 2015|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.angloasianmining.com/azerbaijan/history/|title=Anglo Asian Mining PLC|website=www.angloasianmining.com|access-date=2017-09-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170920141823/http://www.angloasianmining.com/azerbaijan/history/|archive-date=20 September 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2014/12/02/the-ever-thorny-azerbaijani-armenian-dossier-a-territorial-dispute-with-broad-regional-implications/|title=The Ever-Thorny Azerbaijani-Armenian Dossier: A Territorial Dispute With Broad Regional Implications {{!}} Foreign Policy Journal|date=2014-12-02|work=Foreign Policy Journal|access-date=2017-09-26|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170920190636/https://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2014/12/02/the-ever-thorny-azerbaijani-armenian-dossier-a-territorial-dispute-with-broad-regional-implications/|archive-date=20 September 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> of the territory of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani sources insist that Armenian victory was largely due to military help from Russia and the wealthy [[Armenian diaspora]]. Armenians partially deny the allegation, claiming that Russian side was equally supplying Armenian and Azerbaijani sides with weapons and mercenaries. During the war, the Azerbaijani armed forces were also aided by Turkish military advisers, and Russian, Ukrainian, Chechen and Afghan mercenaries.

Azerbaijan approved the CFE flank agreement in May 1997.

===21st century===
A number of Azerbaijani human rights groups have been tracking non-combat deaths and have noted an upward trend in the early 2010s. Based on Defense Ministry statistics that had not been released to the public, the Group of Monitoring Compliance with Human Rights in the Army (GMCHRA) has recorded the deaths of 76 soldiers to date in non-combat incidents for 2011, and the injury of 91 others. In comparison, there were 62 non-combat deaths and 71 cases of injury in 2010. The string of non-combat deaths raises questions about the reform progress of the military. Factors behind the deaths include bullying, hazing, and the systemic corruption within the Azerbaijani Armed Forces (see [[Corruption in Azerbaijan]]).<ref>{{cite news | title=Azerbaijan: Non-Combat Deaths Put Military Reforms in Spotlight | url=http://www.eurasianet.org/node/64508 | publisher=EurasiaNet | date=14 November 2011 | access-date=2 February 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120128182004/http://www.eurasianet.org/node/64508 | archive-date=28 January 2012 | url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2017, Azerbaijani authorities used large scale torture (the [[Tartar Case]]) on Azerbaijani military personnel accused of treason.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Azerbaijan: Light slowly being shed on notorious torture case {{!}} Eurasianet |url=https://eurasianet.org/azerbaijan-light-slowly-being-shed-on-notorious-torture-case |access-date=2022-10-16 |website=eurasianet.org |language=en}}</ref> Generals Nacmeddin Sadikhov and Hikmet Hasanov were accused of torturing Azerbaijani officers and soldiers and according to the authorities and human rights defenders, more than 400 people were subjected to torture in the course of the case. The Azerbaijani authorities claimed one person was killed as a result, while human rights defenders say the number is about 13, and many were wrongfully convicted and given hefty prison sentences.

=== Second Karabakh War ===
The [[Second Karabakh War]] (also known in Azerbaijan as "The Patriotic War"<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-09-30|title=Vətən Müharibəsində dövlətimizin və ordumuzun yanındayıq|url=http://www.science.gov.az/news/open/14376|archive-url=https://archive.today/20210115042528/http://www.science.gov.az/news/open/14376|archive-date=2021-01-15|access-date=2021-01-15|publisher=[[Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences]]|language=az}}</ref> or "Operation Iron Fist"<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-12-10|title=Azərbaycan Ordusu düşmənə qarşı əməliyyatları "Dəmir yumruq" adı altında keçirib|url=https://report.az/qarabag/azerbaycan-ordusu-dusmene-qarsi-emeliyyatlari-demir-yumruq-adi-altinda-kecirib/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20210115042429/https://report.az/qarabag/azerbaycan-ordusu-dusmene-qarsi-emeliyyatlari-demir-yumruq-adi-altinda-kecirib/|archive-date=2021-01-15|access-date=2021-01-15|work=[[Report Information Agency]]|language=az}}</ref>) began on the morning of 27 September 2020 when Azerbaijan launched an offensive along the Line of Contact.<ref>{{Cite web|last=English|first=Duvar|date=2021-08-16|title=Aliyev admits Azerbaijan started the Nagorno-Karabakh war|url=https://www.duvarenglish.com/aliyev-admits-azerbaijan-started-the-nagorno-karabakh-war-news-58502|access-date=2021-10-05|website=www.duvarenglish.com |language=tr-TR}}</ref> On the seventh day of the war, a major offensive was launched by the ground forces, advancing in the north, making some territorial gains while the fighting gradually shifted to the south. Following [[Battle of Shusha (2020)|the capture]] of [[Shusha]], the second-largest settlement in Nagorno-Karabakh, by Azerbaijani forces, a [[2020 Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement|ceasefire agreement]] was signed between Azerbaijan, and Armenia, ending all hostilities in the area.<ref name=":3">{{cite news|date=2020-11-10|title=Nagorno-Karabakh: Russia deploys peacekeeping troops to region|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-54885906|access-date=2020-11-11}}</ref> Under the agreement, Armenia returned the surrounding territories it occupied in 1994 to Azerbaijan while Azerbaijan gained land access to its [[Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic|Nakhchivan]] exclave.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Kramer|first=Andrew E.|date=2020-11-10|title=Facing Military Debacle, Armenia Accepts a Deal in Nagorno-Karabakh War|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/09/world/middleeast/armenia-settlement-nagorno-karabakh-azerbaijan.html}}</ref> Total casualties were in the low thousands.<ref name=":2">{{cite web|date=2020-10-24|title=Coronavirus thrives in Karabakh's bomb shelters|url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/coronavirus-thrives-in-karabakh-s-bomb-shelters-1.5159270|website=ctvnews.ca|publisher=CTV News|access-date=30 March 2021|archive-date=9 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201209154039/https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/coronavirus-thrives-in-karabakh-s-bomb-shelters-1.5159270|url-status=dead}}</ref>

During the war, the Azerbaijani army was widely accused of committing war crimes against Armenian soldiers and civilians.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-12-10|title=Armenia/Azerbaijan: Decapitation and war crimes in gruesome videos must be urgently investigated|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/press-release/2020/12/armenia-azerbaijan-decapitation-and-war-crimes-in-gruesome-videos-must-be-urgently-investigated/|access-date=2021-10-05|website=Amnesty International|language=en}}</ref> [[Human Rights Watch]] and [[Amnesty International]] both condemned Azerbaijan's “indiscriminate” shelling of Armenian civilians, including the use of [[cluster munition]]s.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-12-11|title=Azerbaijan: Unlawful Strikes in Nagorno-Karabakh|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/12/11/azerbaijan-unlawful-strikes-nagorno-karabakh|access-date=2021-10-05|website=Human Rights Watch|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-10-05|title=Armenia/Azerbaijan: Civilians must be protected from use of banned cluster bombs|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/press-release/2020/10/armenia-azerbaijan-civilians-must-be-protected-from-use-of-banned-cluster-bombs/|access-date=2021-10-05|website=Amnesty International|language=en}}</ref> In addition, videos of Azerbaijani soldiers mistreating or executing captive Armenians were circulated online and received widespread condemnation.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-12-15|title=Two men beheaded in videos from Nagorno-Karabakh war identified|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/15/two-men-beheaded-in-videos-from-nagorno-karabakh-war-identified|access-date=2021-10-05|website=the Guardian|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=2020-10-24|title=Nagorno-Karabakh conflict: 'Execution' video prompts war crime probe|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54645254|access-date=2021-10-05}}</ref>

On 10 December, a [[Baku Victory Parade of 2020|victory parade was held]] in honor of the Azerbaijani Army on [[Azadliq Square, Baku|Azadliq Square]],<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-12-03|title=Baku preparing for grandiose Victory Parade – VIDEO|url=https://www.azerbaycan24.com/en/baku-preparing-for-grandiose-victory-parade-ndash-video/|access-date=2020-12-04|website=www.azerbaycan24.com}}</ref> with 3,000 soldiers marching alongside military equipment, unmanned aerial vehicles and aircraft.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-12-10|title=Zəfər paradında əsgərlərin marşı, yeni silah və hərbi texnika – şəkillərdə|url=https://www.bbc.com/azeri/azerbaijan-55260110|access-date=2020-12-10|work=BBC Azerbaijani Service|language=az}}</ref>

In August 2022, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination expressed deep concern regarding "severe and grave human rights violations committed during 2020 hostilities and beyond by the Azerbaijani military forces against prisoners of war and other protected persons of Armenian ethnic or national origin, including extrajudicial killings, torture and other ill-treatment and arbitrary detention as well as the destruction of houses, schools, and other civilian facilities."<ref>{{Cite web|date=2022-08-30|title=Concluding observations on the combined tenth to twelfth reports of Azerbaijan|url=https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CERD/Shared%20Documents/AZE/CERD_C_AZE_CO_10-12_49770_E.pdf|access-date=2022-10-02|website=UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination|language=en|archive-date=3 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221003055825/https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CERD/Shared%20Documents/AZE/CERD_C_AZE_CO_10-12_49770_E.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>