Zakir Hasanov

Zakir Hasanov
Minister of Defence
Incumbent
Assumed office 22 October 2013
President	Ilham Aliyev
Preceded by	Safar Abiyev
Vice-Minister of Internal Affairs
In office 17 January 2003 – 22 October 2013
President	Ilham Aliyev
Personal details
Born	Zakir Asker oghlu Hasanov (1959-06-06) 6 June 1959 Astara District, Azerbaijan SSR, Soviet Union
Alma mater	Jamshid Nakhchivanski Military Lyceum, Baku High Army Commanders School
Profession	Professional soldier
Military service
Allegiance	Soviet Union Azerbaijan
Branch/service	Soviet Army Azerbaijani Land Forces
Years of service	1990–present
Rank	Colonel General
Battles/wars	Nagorno-Karabakh War

Zakir Hasanov (born 6 June 1959) is an Azerbaijani politician and Colonel General who has been the Minister of Defence of Azerbaijan since 2013.

Early life and education

He was born on 6 June 1959 in the Astara District. He graduated from the Baku High Army Commanders School in 1980 as an Artillery officer before serving for five years from 1980 in the Soviet Armed Forces Units in East Germany. He spent the next eight years at the Altay Military Registration and enlistment office of the Siberian Military District as part of the Ministry of Defence of the USSR.

Political career

Following the fall of the Soviet Union, he then served for a decade with the Border Troops of the Ministry of National Security of Azerbaijan. He was then promoted to the chief of office of international relations of the State Border Service before being appointed Deputy Minister of Interior and Commander of the Internal Troops by a presidential decree on 17 January 2003, when he was also promoted to the rank of major-general four months later.

Hasanov (far left)

He was previously the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs.

Defence Minister

Upon coming into office as the Minister of Defence, he made statements in regard to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. This included saying that the Azeri army was strong and disciplined as opposed to that of Armenia and that "the situation in the Armenian armed forces is disastrous. In case of war the troops of this country will escape from the field of battle." He also told the European Union that his country would support liberating its lands peacefully but he emphasized that Azerbaijan reserves the right to liberate "its occupied lands," this came at the same time as E.U. Special Representative for the South Caucasus Philippe Lefort congratulated him on his appointment.

Awards

• Medal for "Distinguished Service in Defending the State Borders" - 1998
• Medal for "Distinguished Military Service" - 2002
• “Azerbaijani Flag" Order - 2004
• Medal for "Distinguished Service for Fatherland" - 2008
• “Azerbaijani Flag" Order - 2016
• “Shohrat" Order - 2019