The Azerbaijani National Guard ( az, Azərbaycan Milli Qvardiyası) is an armed force of the Government of Azerbaijan, and operates as a semi-independent entity as well as the a reserve component of the Azerbaijan Army. The Special State Protection Service (SSPS) of Azerbaijan is a military unit subordinate to the

President of Azerbaijan The president of the Republic of Azerbaijan is the head of state of Azerbaijan. The Constitution states that the president is the embodiment of executive power, commander-in-chief, "representative of Azerbaijan in home and foreign policies" ...

. The missions of the Azerbaijani National Guard are to protect government facilities such as the National Parliament, and the Presidential Administration of Azerbaijan as well as foreign heads of state and government in Azerbaijan.

History

The National Guard was established on 25 December 1991. Initially, military service in National Guard was based on a voluntarily two-year contract. According to the presidential decree of 31 July 1992, the National Guard was expanded into the armed forces. Initially, military service in the National Guard was based on a two-year contract on a voluntary basis. The selection of personnel was carried out with the assistance of the personnel bodies of the Ministry of National Security and the Ministry of Interior. In 1993, Main Security Department of the Supreme State Authorities and Administration was established on the basis of the National Guard. The guard was definitely active in December 1996 but now appears to have been incorporated into the Special State Protection Service. The battle banner of National Guard was approved on 4 October 2005.

Duties

Its responsibilities include organization of the President of Azerbaijan, the protection of the National Parliament, Presidential Administration of Azerbaijan, the Cabinet of Ministers, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, the Constitutional Court, the Central Election Commission and other public facilities as well as the protection of foreign heads of state on the territory of Azerbaijan. The National Guard has a wartime role as part of Azerbaijan's Land Forces. One of the most important tasks of the SSPS is the safety of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline and the

South Caucasus Pipeline The South Caucasus Pipeline (also known as Baku–Tbilisi–Erzurum Pipeline, BTE pipeline, or Shah Deniz Pipeline) is a natural gas pipeline from the Shah Deniz gas field in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea to Turkey. It runs parallel t ...

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two N ...

provides the service with several helicopters and vehicles in order to safeguard the pipeline. The Heydar Aliyev Memorial Museum and Honor is locoated on the territory of the National Guard.

Ceremonial activities

The National Guard provides a

guard of honour A guard of honour ( GB), also honor guard ( US), also ceremonial guard, is a group of people, usually military in nature, appointed to receive or guard a head of state or other dignitaries, the fallen in war, or to attend at state ceremonials, ...

battalion () for ceremonial activities in the national capital. The guard of honor consists of one chief, three flag bearers, three groups of 20 people each and the chief of those three groups. The guard of honor consists of a total of 66 people and the chief of the guard of honor. In September 2011, the honour guard battalion received new distinct uniforms for their duties, replacing their black

beret A beret ( or ; ; eu, txapela, ) is a soft, round, flat-crowned cap, usually of woven, hand-knitted wool, crocheted cotton, wool felt, or acrylic fibre. Mass production of berets began in 19th century France and Spain, and the beret rema ...

and jacket with a white coat and cap. it takes part in the program of foreign leader's

state visit A state visit is a formal visit by a head of state to a foreign country, at the invitation of the head of state of that foreign country, with the latter also acting as the official host for the duration of the state visit. Speaking for the host ...

s including wreath-laying ceremonies in front of the Tomb of the

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 Azer ...

in the Alley of Honor and in front of the

Eternal Flame An eternal flame is a flame, lamp or torch that burns for an indefinite time. Most eternal flames are ignited and tended intentionally, but some are natural phenomena caused by natural gas leaks, peat fires and coal seam fires, all of which can ...

at Martyrs' Lane. The members of the National Guard had the honor of carrying the

Flag of Azerbaijan The national flag of Azerbaijan ( az, Azərbaycan bayrağı), often referred to in Azerbaijani language, Azerbaijani as ( en, Tricolour flag), is a horizontal tricolour (flag), tricolour that features three equally sized bars of bright blue, ...

and the

Olympic flag The International Olympic Committee (IOC) uses icons, flags and symbols to elevate the Olympic Games. These symbols include those commonly used during Olympic competition—such as the flame, fanfare and theme—as well as those used througho ...

during the Opening Ceremony of the

2015 European Games The 2015 European Games, also known as Baku 2015 or Baku 2015 European Games ( az, Bakı 2015 Avropa Oyunları), were the inaugural edition of the European Games, an international multi-sport event for athletes representing the National Olympic ...

. It provided all ceremonial guards during the state funeral of Heydar Aliyev in December 2003.

Gallery

File:Petro Poroshenko in Azerbaijan (07-14-2016) 05.jpg File:Dmitry Medvedev in Azerbaijan 3 July 2008-7.jpg File:Dmitry Medvedev in Azerbaijan 3 July 2008-2.jpg,

Dmitry Medvedev Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev ( rus, links=no, Дмитрий Анатольевич Медведев, p=ˈdmʲitrʲɪj ɐnɐˈtolʲjɪvʲɪtɕ mʲɪdˈvʲedʲɪf; born 14 September 1965) is a Russian politician who has been serving as the dep ...

and

Ilham Aliyev Ilham Heydar oghlu Aliyev ( az, İlham Heydər oğlu Əliyev, ; born 24 December 1961) is the fourth president of Azerbaijan, serving in the post since 31 October 2003. The son and second child of the former Azerbaijani leader Heydar Aliyev, ...

inspecting the National Guard during Medvedev's visit to

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world an ...

in 2008. File:The opening ceremony of the first European games 5.jpg, Members of the Azerbaijani National Guard raising the Olympic Flag. File:Гвардеец баку.jpg File:XDMX MQ forma.jpg

History

Duties

Ceremonial activities

Gallery

See also

References

External links