Azeri Report, Azerbaijan
June 26 2010
Ilham Aliyev: Azerbaijan’s Military Budget Exceeds Armenian National
Budget
BAKU. June 26, 2010: Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev did not rule
out military solution to the Garabagh conflict. During the joint
military exercises of troops of the Defense Ministry and frontier
troops on June 24, the Azerbaijani president said it was necessary to
be ready to restoration of territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.
`We must be ready to liberate our lands from occupants at any time.
For this purpose we need to have a strong army in addition to
political and diplomatic efforts to ensure that the process is
successful,’ president Aliyev said.
Ilham Aliyev said during the past seven years Azerbaijan’s military
expenditure increased by more than 13 times. In 2010 Azerbaijan’s
military expenditure totaled $ 2 billion 150 million, exceeding
Armenia’s national budget, Aliyev continued.
`From the viewpoint of economic potential there is a big gap between
Armenia and Azerbaijan and the gap will deepen in the future because
we have more opportunities. Armenia lives at the expense of foreign
assistance and this difference will grow,’ Aliyev said.
Aliyev noted the development of Azerbaijan’s defense industry. At
present 21 military enterprises operate in Azerbaijan and 30
industrial sites have been created, said the president.
Aliyev confirmed Azerbaijan’s adherence to peaceful settlement of the
conflict. Aliyev did not rule out the military solution to the
conflict if the diplomatic efforts were exhausted. `The present
efforts once again demonstrated the power of the Azerbaijani army and
all of our armed forces,’ Aliyev said (Turan).
From: A. Papazian