Azerbaijan prepares $4.9 billion defence budget to fortify national security

Azerbaijan’s defence and national security expenditures are projected to surpass $4.9 billion next year.

This figure is outlined in the draft law “On the State Budget of the Republic of Azerbaijan for 2025”, Caliber.Az reports via local media.

Azerbaijan’s military spending has increased significantly since the 44-day war with Armenia in 2020. The post-war military development strategy has focused on modernizing the organizational structure and upgrading the weapons arsenal of the national army.

For nearly three decades, Armenia and Azerbaijan were locked in an armed conflict over Karabakh, an internationally recognized part of Azerbaijan. Armenia’s military aggression began after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, resulting in a bloody war until a ceasefire was brokered in 1994. Armenia occupied 20 per cent of Azerbaijan’s territory, leading to over 30,000 deaths and the displacement of one million Azerbaijanis during a brutal ethnic cleansing campaign.

The conflict reignited on September 27, 2020, when Armenian forces in occupied Azerbaijani lands shelled military positions and civilian areas. In response, Azerbaijan launched a counter-offensive that led to the liberation of over 300 settlements, including major cities like Jabrayil, Fuzuli, Zangilan, Gubadli, and Shusha. The war concluded with a tripartite statement on November 10, 2020, signed by Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia, which also resulted in the return of the Aghdam, Kalbajar, and Lachin districts to Azerbaijan.

During and after the war, President Ilham Aliyev emphasized strengthening Azerbaijan’s national army following a model inspired by the Turkish military, albeit on a smaller scale. New commando units have been established in challenging terrains, and in 2021 and 2022, President Aliyev inaugurated several of these units, trained in Türkiye with direct involvement from Turkish military specialists.

On September 19, 2023, Azerbaijan's Armed Forces launched localized anti-terrorist operations to neutralize illegal Armenian armed formations and dismantle their military infrastructure in Karabakh. These operations resulted in the complete surrender of the Armenian military forces and the restoration of Azerbaijan’s sovereignty over its entire territory.

By Tamilla Hasanova