On June 26, Azerbaijani people celebrate the 103th anniversary of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan.
Day of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan is a holiday annually celebrated on June 26 in Azerbaijan, by the decree issued by President Heydar Aliyev, to commemorate the Azerbaijani Armed Forces.
On June 26, 1918 a Muslim Corps, established by a decision of the Special Transcaucasian Committee, was renamed to Detached Corps of Azerbaijan with the establishment of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. Military Ministry of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was established on August 1, 1918. On December 25, General – Samad bey Mehmandarov was elected as a Minister of Defense and Lieutenant-General – Ali-Agha Shikhlinski as a Deputy Minister of Defense. After the collapse of the ADR existing for only 23 months, the Bolshevik government abolished the National Army of Azerbaijan. The first military parade in Azerbaijan was held in Baku in 1919 in the area of the current Museum Center. According to the agreement signed with Turkey, the Islamic Army of the Caucasus, led by Nuru Pasha, closely participated in the forming Azerbaijan army. The Azerbaijani defense together with the Caucasian Islamic Army liberated Baku and nearby areas from the Bolshevik-Dashnak occupation on September 15, 1918. At that time, the Azerbaijani army had generals such as Huseyn khan Nakhchivanski, Ibrahim agha Usubov, Abdulhamid bey Gaytabashi, Kazim Gajar, Javad bay Shikhlinski, Habib bey Salimov.
From its first days sub-units of the Azerbaijani Army fought against illegally formed armed forces of Armenia in hard battles throughout the all territory of the country. The Azerbaijani Army became a secure guarantee of independence of the Republic and its people, who made a choice to establish a democratic government.
After 1991, with the country's independence now regained, the newly restored national government began to form the Azerbaijani armed forces on the basis of Soviet formations of the Transcaucasian Military District within Azerbaijan.
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