Given the large-scale militarization of Armenia, Azerbaijan has significantly increased its military budget for the coming year to a record level of 8.4 billion manats, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said in his address on the occasion of New Year.
"Our military expenses will be 8.4 billion manats. Next year, we are allocating 4 billion manats to Karabakh and East Zangezur. It could have been the exact opposite. But Armenia and countries that stand behind it and give it harmful advices simply won’t let this happen," Ilham Aliyev said.
He noted that Azerbaijan will not simply observe Armenia's large-scale and rapid militarization.
"Thirty years of occupation and destruction, the devastation of Karabakh and East Zangezur, the Khojaly genocide, the fact that one million of our compatriots became refugees and displaced persons because of Armenia will never be erased from our memory. We will never forget this. Armenia's policy, its aggressive substance must always be taken into account," Ilham Aliyev said.
