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Azerbaijan National Security
From the very beginning of its existence as a post-Soviet
independent republic, Azerbaijan faced a single compelling
national security issue: its enduring struggle with Armenian
forces in Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding territory. The
withdrawal of Russian troops and matériel left an Azerbaijani
army ill-equipped and poorly disciplined. Government efforts to
build a new national defense force achieved only limited results,
and Armenian forces continued to advance into Azerbaijani
territory during most of 1993. By the end of that year, the
Aliyev regime had bolstered some components of the Azerbaijani
military, however.
Forming a National Defense Force
Even before the formal breakup of the Soviet Union at the end
of 1991, Azerbaijan had created its own Ministry of Defense and a
Defense Council to advise the president on national security
policy. The national armed forces of Azerbaijan were formed by
presidential decree in October 1991. Subsequently, the
Azerbaijani Supreme Soviet declared that the Soviet 4th Army,
which included most of the Soviet troops based in Azerbaijan,
would be placed under Azerbaijani jurisdiction. About the same
time, the Azerbaijani Supreme Soviet summoned Azerbaijanis
serving in the Soviet armed forces outside Azerbaijan to return
and serve in their homeland. By the end of 1991, the Supreme
Soviet had enacted independently several statutes governing
military matters.
Formed in mid-1992, the Azerbaijani navy has about 3,000
personnel in sixteen units from the former Soviet Caspian
Flotilla and Border Guards. The navy has five minesweepers, four
landing ships, and three patrol boats. The air force has about
2,000 troops, forty-eight combat aircraft, and one helicopter
squadron.
According to legislation and a decree both promulgated in
1991, the president serves as the commander in chief of the
Azerbaijani armed forces. In this capacity, the president
oversees defense and security efforts undertaken by the prime
minister and the ministers of defense, internal affairs, and
security. Between 1991 and 1993, Azerbaijani presidents exercised
this power by ousting several defense ministers because of
alleged incompetence. Despite propitious legislation and decrees,
however, efforts to field a national army faced many challenges.
In the pre-Soviet period, many Azerbaijanis graduated from
Russian military academies, and Azerbaijani regiments of the
imperial army were noted for their fighting skill. In the Soviet
military system, however, Azerbaijanis were underrepresented in
the top ranks of the armed forces, despite the presence of the
Higher All Arms Command School and the Caspian High Naval School
in Azerbaijan. Many Azerbaijani conscripts were assigned to
construction battalions, in which military training was minimal
and the troops carried out noncombat duties. Preinduction
military training in most Azerbaijani secondary schools was also
reportedly less stringent than in other Soviet republics. For
these and other reasons, the Azerbaijanis were not prepared for
long-term warfare in Nagorno-Karabakh when independence arrived.
Data as of March 1994
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