Lately, there are a lot of discussions about the reform of the army in Azerbaijan, which are tending to change the concept and original system of military service. However, those discussions are not that significant, and regardless of statistics, it seems like everything is going to be the same. This issue is going to be considered based on sociological data and personal point of view. My goal is to persuade people to follow me, but not to force people. As a matter of fact, nowadays, not much attention is paid for patriotic education, and that is why the number of people who actually want to serve in the army is very insignificant.
For now, neither the government nor society can change the structure of the military service in Azerbaijan.
Not only government but also people decide whether is it a good idea to change the system or leave it the same way it is. According to a sociological survey of the population of Baku in 2012, the overwhelming majority of respondents (70%) believe that people should be recruited into the army under a contract.
20% of respondents say that military service should be mandatory. 10% of the responders found this question difficult to answer. Voters in the age range from 18 to 59 prefer to be recruited by a contract more than votes older than 60. People with primary or lower secondary education, more often than in Moscow as a whole, prefer compulsory military service. As the level of education of respondents increases, the proportion of those surveyed who believe that people in the army should be recruited by contract increases.
In other words, the more educated person is, the more that person thinks that recruitment by a contract is a better decision.
Governmental officials, however, willing to let everything to be the same way it is. This system of military service originally was taken from Soviet Union, and Azerbaijan still uses it. In their opinion, people have to serve in the army to at least to try to contribute in the country’s defense system.
Some people think that there has to be no military service at all. In their opinion, it is better for our country to disband the army and become a neutral country with a symbolic number of soldiers. And there is no need to go to the army unless that person wants to pursue a career a soldier. I am pretty sure that serving in an army does not mean that a person has to pursue a career in a military service. Then, being neutral is not the best position: if you live peacefully, it does not mean that others will do the same. A country that cannot defend itself cannot be independent. The army can work with both contract-based service and mandatory service.
An army has to be strong and powerful, but if no one is going to serve, Azerbaijan will never be the same. Our army is an important part of our society. Going through the army gives you the honor of seeing the history of your country. Each soldier is a hero. The patriotic education has to take a better place among young people. In spite all the discussions about the reform of the army in Azerbaijan, in my perspective, man has to serve in the army, and I personally believe that it is mandatory to serve in the army and that Azerbaijan has to have a military duty.
Azerbaijan Army. (2022, Jan 22). Retrieved from https://paperap.com/azerbaijan-army/