What is Azerbaijani Armed Forces?
[[Image:Azerbaijani Armed Forces logo.svg|right|thumb|300px|The Emblem of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces]] The '''Azerbaijani Armed Forces''' ({{lang-az|Azərbaycan Silahlı Qüvvələri}}) is the [[military]] of the [[Republic of Azerbaijan]]. ==Composition== The armed forces have three branches: the [[Azerbaijani Land Force]], the [[Azerbaijani Air Force]], and the [[Azerbaijani Navy]]. Related forces which are not part of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, include the [[paramilitary]] [[Azerbaijani National Guard]], the [[Internal Troops of Azerbaijan]], and the [[State Border Service of Azerbaijan]] (who patrol Azerbaijan’s borders with [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], [[Russia]], [[Iran]], [[Turkey]] and [[Armenia]]), which can be involved in state [[defense (military)|defense]]. The [[Commander-in-Chief]] of the [[military]] is the [[President of Azerbaijan]], currently [[Ilham Aliyev]]. The [[Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense|Ministry of Defense]] is in charge of [[politics|political ]]leadership. It is currently headed by [[Safar Abiyev]]. Military command is in the hands of the [[General Staff]], headed by the Chief of Staff, who is [[Colonel-General]] [[Najmaddin Sadigov]]. ==History== Since the fall of the [[Soviet Union]], Azerbaijan has been trying to further develop its armed forces into a professional, well trained, and mobile military. Based on 2007 [[statistic]]s the country has about 66,940 [[soldier|troops]], and a [[paramilitary]] force of 15,000 troops. There are 300,000 former service personnel who have had [[conscription|military service]] in the last fifteen years.<ref name=IISS>{{cite book|title=The Military Balance 2007|url=https://archive.org/details/militarybalance200unse|last=[[IISS]]|year=2007|publisher=Routledge for the IISS|location=London|isbn=978-1-85743-437-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/militarybalance200unse/page/157 157]}}</ref> Azerbaijan had actually established the Azerbaijani Armed Forces and a Ministry of Defense on June 26, 1918 with the first independence of Azerbaijan, as