Tweet
AZERI LEADER ADDRESSES MILITARY PARADE IN CAPITAL
AzTV, Azerbaijan
June 26 2013
At 0510 gmt on 26 June, Azerbaijani state television AzTV started
broadcasting live an address by President Ilham Aliyev ahead of an army
parade to be held in the capital Baku to mark the 95th anniversary
of the country's armed forces. The venue for the parade are Baku's
main Azadliq Square and the nearby bay.
Over 5,000 troops, about 300 pieces of military hardware, over 100
aircraft and helicopters and about 40 ships and boats are taking
part in the parade, according to a 25 June statement by Azerbaijani
Defence Ministry press service.
BBCM note: Azerbaijan is locked in a conflict with Armenia over its
breakaway Nagornyy Karabakh region which came under the control of
ethnic Armenians during a war in the early 1990s. The sides signed
a cease-fire agreement in 1994. Years of internationally-mediated
talks have since failed to produce a permanent peace agreement, and
the dispute remains one of post-Soviet Europe's frozen conflicts. In
early 2013, President Aliyev said that Azerbaijan will increase its
military spending to 3.7bn dollars this year. He has repeatedly said
that Azerbaijan is trying to resolve the conflict peacefully, adding,
however, that war cannot be ruled out if peace talks with Armenia
fail to produce a result.
[Translated from Azeri]
AzTV, Azerbaijan
June 26 2013
At 0510 gmt on 26 June, Azerbaijani state television AzTV started
broadcasting live an address by President Ilham Aliyev ahead of an army
parade to be held in the capital Baku to mark the 95th anniversary
of the country's armed forces. The venue for the parade are Baku's
main Azadliq Square and the nearby bay.
Over 5,000 troops, about 300 pieces of military hardware, over 100
aircraft and helicopters and about 40 ships and boats are taking
part in the parade, according to a 25 June statement by Azerbaijani
Defence Ministry press service.
BBCM note: Azerbaijan is locked in a conflict with Armenia over its
breakaway Nagornyy Karabakh region which came under the control of
ethnic Armenians during a war in the early 1990s. The sides signed
a cease-fire agreement in 1994. Years of internationally-mediated
talks have since failed to produce a permanent peace agreement, and
the dispute remains one of post-Soviet Europe's frozen conflicts. In
early 2013, President Aliyev said that Azerbaijan will increase its
military spending to 3.7bn dollars this year. He has repeatedly said
that Azerbaijan is trying to resolve the conflict peacefully, adding,
however, that war cannot be ruled out if peace talks with Armenia
fail to produce a result.
[Translated from Azeri]