President Aliyev signs order on military conscription

By Azernews

By Vafa Ismayilova

President Ilham Aliyev has signed an order on conscription of citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan into the active military service and transfer of the servicemen from active military service to reserve units from January 1-30, 2021.

Under the order, Azerbaijani citizens born in 2003 who are 18 years of age on the day of conscription, as well as those born in 1986-2002 and those under the age of 35 and citizens who have no rights of deferral of services in the republic’s armed forces and other military formations are to be conscripted into the active military service from January 1-30, 2021.

In late September, President Aliyev signed a decree on partial military mobilization in the country following the Armenian attacks, subjecting the positions of the Azerbaijani armed forces and civilian settlements to shelling from large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery installations of various calibers along the frontline zone in the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region. Azerbaijan's partial mobilization announcement came after Armenia declared martial law and total military mobilization.

The clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan escalated for the second time this year after Armenia's forces deployed in the occupied Azerbaijani lands targeted Azerbaijani civilian settlements and military positions, causing casualties among civilians and the military. In the early hours of September 27, Azerbaijan launched counter-offensive operation which lasted six weeks. The operation resulted in the liberation of Azerbaijan's occupied lands.

A Russia-brokered ceasefire deal that Azerbaijan and Armenia signed on November 10, 2020 brought an end to the 44-day war between the two countries. The Azerbaijani army declared a victory against the Armenian troops. The signed agreement obliged Armenia to withdraw its troops from the Azerbaijani lands that it had occupied.