Dadash Rzayev | |
---|---|
Dadaş Rzayev | |
Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan | |
In office February 21, 1993 –June 17, 1993 | |
President | Abulfaz Elchibey |
Preceded by | Rahim Gaziyev |
Succeeded by | Safar Abiyev ( acting ) |
Personal details | |
Born | Delimammadli,Goranboy District,Azerbaijan SSR,Soviet Union | December 22,1935
Military service | |
Branch/service | Azerbaijani Armed Forces |
Years of service | 1959–1995 |
Rank | Major General |
Battles/wars | Battle for Bashkend,Askeran |
Dadash Garib oghlu Rzayev was Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan from February to June 1993 and is currently the Chairman of Confederation of Azerbaijani Officers in Reserve. [1] [2] His active service in the army lasted for 40 years,37 of which were in the Airborne Troops. [3]
Rzayev was born in 1935 in Delimammadli city of Goranboy District,Azerbaijan. He never planned a military career but always wanted to be a pilot. In 1953,he was enrolled at Azerbaijan Technical University. A year later his studies were interrupted and he was conscripted to military service at Soviet Airborne Troops stationed in Belarus for a period of 3 years. After military quarantine,he was directed to confidential state Officers School in isolated location in Kazakhstan for a period of one year. After completion of his course,he returned to the military service. Six months before completion of his service,he was sent to continue his military education at School of Airborne Troops. He graduated from the school in 1959. While a cadet he has been awarded with Order of the Red Star for excellence in his studies. [3]
Rzayev started his military career when he held the rank of Lieutenant. After graduating from military school,he was first sent to the 106th Guards Airborne Division at Tula,Russian SFSR. He was then promoted to captain. Unlike other officers,he ran a 40 kilometres (25 mi) distance to shooting range in front of his tabor of soldiers and always did exercises prior to his soldiers during the trainings for encouragement purposes. Soldiers of his tabor always received higher grades when commander of the army checked the statistics. After completion of Frunze Military Academy,he served as Commander of airborne regiments in Kaunas,Lithuania and then in Baku,Azerbaijan. After that,he was appointed First Deputy to Commander of 12,000 men division. Rzayev was then assigned to troops in Lviv,Ukraine where he established airborne brigade. During this time he was promoted to the rank of colonel. During the Ogaden War,Soviets provided assistance to Ethiopian government and Rzayev was sent to Ethiopia as an "agricultural expert". He created an airborne brigade for the Ethiopian Ministry of Defense and led some combat operations. He is said to have played a significant role in formation of Ethiopian troops. [4] During the Soviet–Afghan War,he supervised 4 tabors. [3]
Rzayev came back to Azerbaijan and started working at Karabakh Public Relief Committee which supplied him with a helicopter. He visited villages in Karabakh and transported food to isolated areas. He received his rank of a General in 1991. At the end of 1991,the new Defense Minister Valeh Barshadly appointed Rzayev his deputy. On September 25,1991 President Ayaz Mutalibov appointed him Commander of National Self-Defense Forces. [5] Rzayev was the author of the military oath of allegiance which was taken by him and the first unit of the independent Azerbaijani Army known as The First tabor based on unit 18110 of the Soviet Army,on December 8,1991 in the Martyrs' Alley. [6] Once Barshadly became the Chief of General Staff of Azerbaijani Armed Forces,he ordered him to create northwestern military corpus. Rzayev took the assignment and created a 12,000 men corpus in the Tovuz region. During the Karabakh conflict,he personally led the operation which captured the village of Bashkend. [7] On February 21,1993 he was appointed Minister of Defense by President Abulfaz Elchibey. [8] [3] On June 17 he was sacked by Elchibey [9] and on July 16,1993 he was accused in the report of the investigative commission of the parliament of being a part to skirmishes during the Ganja revolt of June 1993 and was removed from the position of Minister of Defense. [10] [11] He retired from active service in the army in 1995. [3] and remained in the ministry working at Military Scientific Center of the Ministry of Defense. However,30 generals,colonels and high-ranking officers,including Rzayev were laid off in 2009 due to ongoing reforms in the ministry. [12]
Rzayev has since been the Chairman of Confederation of Azerbaijani Officers in Reserve. The organizations has branches in 65 regions of Azerbaijan. [2] As the chairman,Rzayev has been an outspoken proponent of appointment of military training course teachers in secondary schools by the Ministry of Defense,not Ministry of Education so as to improve the quality of knowledge of youth before they are conscripted for active duty. [13] He has also been a proponent of aligning the Azerbaijani army according to NATO standards. [3] Rzayev is confident that existing Azerbaijani manufacturing plants have a capacity to start producing the T-72 tanks to foster the domestic military production in Azerbaijan. [14]
In 2009,Rzayev made headlines after parachuting from an airplane at the age of 74. This was his 1506th time on parachute. He first did it on January 16,1955 as a cadet. [3] Rzayev took off on an airplane from the Balakan base of Technical Sports Organization of Azerbaijani Military Volunteers and jumped when the plane reached the altitude of 1,000–1,200 meters. He was the oldest person at 74 to jump off with a parachute on the territory of post Soviet states and the third person in the world to do it at that age. [4] [15] [ dubious ]
Colonel General Safar Akhundbala oghlu Abiyev was the Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan from 1995 to 2013. He was considered one of the longest serving defense ministers in the Commonwealth of Independent States.
Rahim Hasan oghlu Gaziyev was Azerbaijani Defense Minister in 1992–1993,in the turmoil of the First Nagorno-Karabakh War,and later a political prisoner.
Feyruz Rajab oghlu Mustafayev is an Azerbajaini politician who was Acting Prime Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan. He was First Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
Valeh Eyyub oghlu Barshadly also spelled as Valeh Barshadly,was the first Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan after restoration of its independence in 1991.
Mammadrafi Ismayil oghlu Mammadov was Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan from September 2,1993 until February 6,1995. Mammadov served as minister during the period of fierce fighting on the Karabakh front.
Vahid Abdulla oghlu Musayev was the deputy Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan and Acting Minister within the month of August 1993.
Tajaddin Mehdiyev is an Azerbaijani military leader and politician. He was the Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan and is the Chairman of Committee for Protection of Rights of Officers in Azerbaijan.
Tahir Yunis oghluAliyev was the Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan,Minister of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan Republic and Chairman of State Customs Committee.
Najmeddin Huseyn oghlu Sadikov is an Azerbaijani Colonel General who served as the Chief of the General Staff of Azerbaijani Armed Forces and the First Deputy Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan. He was appointed to both positions on 2 November 1993 by President of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev. On 28 January 2021 it was announced that he is no longer serving as the chief of staff,and Karim Valiyev took his position on 23 July of that year.
Major General Nuraddin Sadig oglu Sadigov also known as Nuraddin Sadikhov,was the Chief of the General Staff of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces,Deputy Minister of Defense and National Advisor on Military Issues.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan Republic is the military staff of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces. It is the central organ of the Armed Forces Administration and oversees operational management of the armed forces under the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan Republic. The Chief of the General Staff is appointed by the President of Azerbaijan,who is the supreme commander-in-chief of the armed forces.
Vice Admiral Shahin Sultanov was the Commander of the Azerbaijani Naval Forces from 1999 to 2014.
Azerbaijani Flag Order is an award presented by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
Mais Barkhudarov is an Azerbaijani officer,lieutenant general of Armed Forces of Azerbaijan,who was a participant of 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh clashes and 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war. He is the current commander of the 2nd Army Corps of Azerbaijan.
Ramiz Ganbarov was a National Hero of Azerbaijan,the Commander of Shusha self-defense battalion and a veteran of the First Nagorno-Karabakh War.
Janpolad Yagub ogly Rzayev was a recipient of the National Hero of Azerbaijan who fought during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War in the early 1990s.
Hikmat Izzat oghlu Mirzayev is an Azerbaijani military officer who serves as Deputy Minister of Defense and commander of the Azerbaijani Land Forces since 2024. He is a lieutenant general of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces and the former commander of the Special Forces from 2014 to 2024,and participated in the 2016 Nagorno–Karabakh clashes and the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War,during which he led Azerbaijani forces in the 2020 battle of Shusha. He received the title of the Hero of the Patriotic War.
Karim Tofig oghlu Valiyev is an Azerbaijani military officer,serving as the colonel general in the Azerbaijani Armed Forces. He is the Chief of the General Staff of Azerbaijani Armed Forces and the First Deputy Minister of Defence of Azerbaijan. He had served as the head of the Main Department for Personnel of the Ministry of Defence of Azerbaijan on 23 July 2021. Valiyev had taken part in the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War.
Maharram Abish oghlu Aliyev is the Deputy Minister of Justice of the Republic of Azerbaijan,Head of the Defense Affairs Department of the Defense Assistant to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan,Colonel-General. Currently,he is the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the Republic of Belarus.
Mahammad Karim oghlu Hasanov is the Major General of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces;Head of the Heydar Aliyev Military Lyceum of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic,Deputy Commander of the Nakhchivan Separate Combined Arms Army;Participant of the Gyunnut operation and the Patriotic War.