Minister: Azerbaijani army ready to demonstrate April 2016 victory at any moment

In the April 2016 battles, the Armenian army was defeated only by a few units of the Azerbaijani army, Azerbaijani Defense Minister, Colonel-General Zakir Hasanov said at a press conference in Baku, Trend reports on June 18.

The minister said that the Azerbaijani army is ready to demonstrate the April victory at any moment.

"The servicemen do not start the war, but fulfill the military orders,” he said. "Presently, the international situation does not allow to resort to the military actions. The Azerbaijani President is doing a great job to resolve the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict peacefully."

Hasanov stressed that the Azerbaijani army constantly strengthens its combat readiness.

"The Azerbaijani army is constantly developing and strengthening,” he said. "Its combat readiness, psychological preparation is always at a high level. Armenia is very weak in this sphere. After the April 2016 battles, Armenian ex-President Serzh Sargsyan said that 'Armenia was fighting by using the armaments of the 1980s', although they said once that Armenia has a strong army”.

On April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions and settlements of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire by the Armenian Armed Forces. As a result of the shelling of Azerbaijan’s settlements located along the line of contact, civilians were killed, including two children. Azerbaijan responded with an armed offensive, which resulted in four days of fighting, as the country liberated several important strategic spots previously occupied by Armenian Armed Forces. As a result of the successful counteroffensive, more than 2,000 hectares of territory were liberated from the Armenian occupation.