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 was born on July 6, 1927 in Gubadly,

Azerbaijan SSR Azerbaijan ( az, Азәрбајҹан, Azərbaycan, italics=no), officially the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic (Azerbaijan SSR; az, Азәрбајҹан Совет Сосиалист Республикасы, Azərbaycan Sovet Sosialist R ...

. Throughout his early years, he completed a military school, Military Academy of Tank Forces of USSR, Military Academy of General Staff of Soviet Armed Forces and was the youngest officer of Azerbaijani nationality to receive the rank of a

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Career in the military

Soviet Azerbaijan

In the 1970s, Barshadly was Deputy Commander of the

3rd Shock Army The 3rd Shock Army (russian: Третья ударная армия) was a field army of the Red Army formed during the Second World War. The "Shock" armies were created with the specific structure to engage and destroy significant enemy forces ...

stationed in

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

. While the First Secretary of

Heydar Aliyev Heydar Alirza oghlu Aliyev ( az, Һејдәр Әлирза оғлу Әлијев, italic=no, Heydər Əlirza oğlu Əliyev, ; , ; 10 May 1923 – 12 December 2003) was a Soviet and Azerbaijani politician who served as the third president of Aze ...

invited Valeh Barshadly from Germany to lead the Nakhchivanski Military Lyceum and the naval school in Zikh, just outside Baku, to increase the number of professional Azeri officers. The number of Azeri officers were to grow by 50%.

Azerbaijan Republic

Barshadly has played a significant role in training Azerbaijani officers during Soviet rule and in re-establishing an

Azerbaijani Army The Azerbaijani Armed Forces ( az, Azərbaycan Silahlı Qüvvələri) were re-established according to the Law of the Republic of Azerbaijan on the Armed Forces from 9 October 1991. The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR) had originally formed ...

. The decree to establish the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan was signed on September 5, 1991. Barshadly who was a well experienced general was to lead the ministry. During first few days, the Ministry consisted of 4 people: General Valeh Barshadly, General Arif Salahov,

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

Telman Mehdiyev and General Zaur Rzayev. On October 9, 1991 the Supreme Soviet of Azerbaijan SSR passed a bill about "Establishment of self-defense forces" to speed up the process. The first unit of the new army was formed on the basis of the 18-110 military unit of

mechanized infantry Mechanized infantry are infantry units equipped with armored personnel carriers (APCs) or infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) for transport and combat (see also mechanized force). As defined by the United States Army, mechanized infantry is di ...

of the 4th Army located in Shikhovo, south of Baku. When the ministry was being formed, every officer had only one pistol. In general, Barshadly was in favor of creating a professional army on the basis of contractual relationship between the army and servicemen. He proposed to create 16,000 men

brigade A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division. Br ...

s with numbering of and assigning a flag to each

tabor Tabor may refer to: Places Czech Republic * Tábor, a town in the South Bohemian Region ** Tábor District, the surrounding district * Tábor, a village and part of Velké Heraltice in the Moravian-Silesian Region Israel * Mount Tabor, Galilee ...

. In addition, he favored creation of additional

raid Raid, RAID or Raids may refer to: Attack * Raid (military), a sudden attack behind the enemy's lines without the intention of holding ground * Corporate raid, a type of hostile takeover in business * Panty raid, a prankish raid by male college ...

tabors. However, his offer was rejected by the parliament and it was decided to create the army on basis of

conscription Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

. First two brigades were established on conscripted and volunteered servicemen. Realizing the access to international community was important, in November 1991, Barshadly made attempts to establish press service of the ministry for timely communications with the press and appointed Ramiz Melikov to lead the department. During times of disorganization, Barshadly was also proponent of creation of partisan groups to fight the enemy but never succeeded in doing so. On December 11, 1991 Barshadly was replaced by

Tajeddin Mehdiyev 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. Military career He graduated from the Baku Higher Combined Arms Command Sc ...

, and appointed the Deputy Minister of Defense and

Chief of General Staff of Azerbaijani Armed Forces The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan Republic ( az, Azərbaycan Respublikası Silahlı Qüvvələri Baş Qərargahı) is the military staff of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces. It is the central organ of the Armed Forces Administration ...

. During his term as Chief of Staff, Azerbaijani army has achieved successful military victories on the Karabakh front. He also prevented the ammunition from being destroyed when the remaining Soviet army was pulling out of Azerbaijan in 1992. On September 4, 1992 Barshadly was relieved from his duties as Deputy Minister and Chief of the General Staff by a presidential decree of

Abulfaz Elchibey Abulfaz Elchibey ( az, Əbülfəz Elçibəy; 24 June 1938, in Nakhchivan – 22 August 2000, in Ankara) was an Azerbaijani political figure and a former Soviet dissident. His real name was Abulfaz Gadirgulu oghlu Aliyev (Azerbaijani: ''Əbülf� ...

. Some allege he resigned himself, under pressure from the

Popular Front of Azerbaijan The Azerbaijani Popular Front Party (APFP; az, Azərbaycan Xalq Cəbhəsi Partiyası, ) is a political party in Azerbaijan, founded in 1992 by Abulfaz Elchibey. After Elchibey's death in 2000, the party split into two wings, the ''reform'' wi ...

. In later years he worked as the rector of the Jamshid Nakhichevanski Military Lyceum and was again appointed the deputy Minister of Defense and Chief of Staff under Heydar Aliyev but then he resigned and return to the lyceum where he worked until end of his life.

Death

Barshadly died on May 15, 1999. He was buried with honors on May 18, 1999 at the '' Avenue of the Honored Ones Cemetery''. On July 6, 2007, Azerbaijani government held the 80th anniversary of Valeh Barshadly.

References