POLITICS
AZERBAIJAN WILL INCREASE ITS MILITARY BUDGET IN 2008, PRESIDENT ILHAM ALIYEV
“Azerbaijan`s 2008 budget will see increase mostly in military spending”, President Ilham Aliyev said Tuesday during a meeting dedicated to problems of people displaced from their native lands as a result of Armenian military aggression against Azerbaijan.
The Azerbaijani leader said military budget has been increased several times in the country over the past few years, and added that it is now $1 billion.
“One billion dollars is a very huge sum, and I can say that we are among leading countries in CIS. But we live in state of war, and our lands are under occupation. That is why we must invest any amount necessary to free our native lands from occupation”, Ilham Aliyev stressed.
The President said the Azerbaijani government will make every possible effort to solve the problems of refugees and IDPs.
“As for the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, we must continue diplomatic efforts, and at the same time, we must boost the process of creating a strong military potential”, Ilham Aliyev emphasized.