Tajaddin Mehdiyev ( az, Tacəddin Mehdiyev) was the Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan and is the Chairman of Committee for Protection of Rights of Officers in

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

Military career

He graduated from the

Baku Higher Combined Arms Command School The Baku Higher Combined Arms Command School (BVOKU) was one of the military academies of the USSR. It trained military personnel in a number of specializations. It was located in Baku in the Azerbaijan SSR. History On November 29, 1939, the s ...

of the

Soviet Army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...

in 1967. He was in the same graduating class as future Armenian defence minister

Mikael Harutyunyan Mikael Harutyuni Harutyunyan ( hy, Միքաել Հարությունի Հարությունյան; born 10 February 1946) was the 7th Defence Minister of Armenia from 4 April 2007 until 14 April 2008. From 14 April 2008 to 24 May 2018, he has serv ...

Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan

Mehdiyev was appointed Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan in December 1991, during the

Nagorno-Karabakh conflict The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is an ethnic and territorial conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, inhabited mostly by ethnic Armenians, and seven surrounding districts, inhabited mostly by Azerbaij ...

, replacing General

Valeh Barshadly Valeh Barshadly Eyyub oglu ( az, Valeh Bərşadlı Eyyub oğlu; July 6, 1927 – May 15, 1999) also spelled as Valeh Barshadli, was the first Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan after restoration of its independence in 1991. Early life Barshadly w ...

. In an interview with British journalist

Thomas de Waal Thomas Patrick Lowndes de Waal (born 1966) is a British journalist and writer on the Caucasus. He is a senior fellow at Carnegie Europe. He is best known for his 2003 book '' Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan Through Peace and War''. Lif ...

, Mehdiyev said: While in office, he personally led an unsuccessful operation in Dashalty where many Azeri soldiers were ambushed and killed. Additionally, within the 2 months of his term in office, several villages of strategic importance,

Karkijahan Krkjan ( hy, Քրքջան) or Karkijahan ( az, Kərkicahan) is a settlement near the city of Stepanakert. The village had an Armenian-majority population prior to the Khaibalikend massacre in 1919 and subsequently an Azerbaijani-majority popula ...

, Malibeyli and Gushchular, and Garadaghly and were lost to Armenian forces. On February 17, 1992 with the fall of Garadaghly village of

Khojavend Rayon Khojavend District ( az, Xocavənd rayonu) is one of the 66 districts of Azerbaijan. It is located in the west of the country and belongs to the Karabakh Economic Region. The district borders the districts of Lachin, Shusha, Khojaly, Agdam, Agh ...

where more than 70 Azerbaijani civilians died and shortly before the fall of Khojaly, Mehdiyev was officially removed from the post of Minister of Defense. The ministry was then headed briefly by Chief of Staff,

Shahin Musayev Shahin Musayev Kheyreddin oglu ( az, Şahin Musayev Xeyrəddin oğlu) was the deputy Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan, Chief of Staff, and ''Acting'' Minister within a few weeks in January – February (''unspecified''), 1992. Acting Minister o ...

before Tahir Aliyev took over.

Later years

In 2005, Mehdiyev ran for

Azerbaijani parliament The National Assembly ( az, Milli Məclis), also transliterated as Milli Mejlis, is the legislative branch of government in Azerbaijan. The unicameral National Assembly has 125 deputies: previously 100 members were elected for five-year terms ...

from the election district No. 99 of

Shamkir Rayon Shamkir District ( az, Şəmkir rayonu) is one of the 66 districts of Azerbaijan. It is located in the north-west of the country and belongs to the Gazakh-Tovuz Economic Region. The district borders the districts of Gadabay, Tovuz, Samukh, Go ...

of Azerbaijan but did not get elected. Mehdiyev has been a proponent of big reforms in the way post-career officers are treated while he was the Chairman of Committee for Protection of Rights of Officers. He lobbied changes in salary, health insurance, provision of jobs to members of officers' families due to their relocations and social protection. He was also one of supporters for establishment of

Ministry of Defence Industry of Azerbaijan The Ministry of Defence Industry of Azerbaijan ( az, Azərbaycan Respublikasının Müdafiə Sənayesi Nazirliyi) is a governmental agency within the Cabinet of Azerbaijan in charge of design, manufacturing, regulation and maintenance of products ...

and starting domestic military production. In the last few years, Tajeddin Mehdiyev worked at the Ministry of Defense but was laid off along with other 30 high-ranking officers in 2009 due to ongoing reforms in the ministry.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mehdiyev, Tajaddin Azerbaijani generals Azerbaijani military personnel of the Nagorno-Karabakh War Ministers of Defense of Azerbaijan Living people Year of birth missing (living people)

Military career

Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan

Later years

See also

References