Ministry of National Security

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of National Security are responsible for internal security and report directly to the president. The Ministry of Internal Affairs oversees local police forces and maintains internal civil defense troops. The Ministry of National Security has a separate internal security force.

After the Republic of Azerbaijan restored its independence in October, 1991, the Ministry of National Security of the Republic of Azerbaijan was established on the material-technical and personnel basis of the State Security Committee on November 1, 1991. Within a short period of time, representatives of other nationalities have left the Ministry and Azerbaijan, the process of staffing Ministry only by the national specialists had begun. Not only the name and the personnel of the security body had changed, but primary change the Ministry faced was its mission and duties.

On 09 Mar 2010 commander of the Interior Troops, Lieutenant-General Zakir Hasanov said "The combat readiness of the Interior Troops is perfect. The troops have been supplied with the most modern arms and military equipment. We can now compare the logistics of the Interior Troops with the logistics of the similar bodies of the leading states." According to Zakir Hasanov, Azerbaijani soldiers are able to fulfill all the tasks, liberate the occupied territories. Zakir Hasanov noted that the officers of the Interior Troops attended trainings in the teaching and training centers of the leading states. Zakir Hasanov said using the experience of the leading states the Interior Troops had established the most modern education system in Azerbaijan. New hostel, canteen, military camps have been constructed for the soldiers of the Interior Troops. According to Zakir Hasanov, the soldiers of the Interior Troops are given national meals at least three times a day, there has never been a problem concerning the nutrition of the soldiers.

According to the Ministry website, "From the end of 1950s, great amount of work was done for the nationalization of the security bodies and restoration of historical justice, as well as for the legal and moral rehabilitation of repressed people. This process is directly connected with the name of Heydar Aliyev, the prominent statesman, who devoted most part of his life to the activity in security bodies. During the years of his leadership in the counter-intelligence department of the State Security Committee, especially after 1964 when he was appointed as one of the committee leaders, the process of attraction of the national specialists, their preparation and appointment to the leading positions in the committee had begun. During Heydar Aliyev's career as one of the leaders of the Republic and the Soviet Union he always paid a great attention to the activity of the special services of Azerbaijan."

Following the restoration of the state independence, significant achievements were made for revealing and neutralizing intelligence and destructive-subversive activities of foreign special services in our country. Besides, the ministry fulfils important tasks such as protection of state secret, struggle against corruption, terrorism, circulation of narcotic psychotropic and radioactive substances, illegal trafficking of fire-arms and other military equipment, as well as against more dangerous kinds of transnational organized crime. In this respect, cooperating on bilateral and multilateral basis with tens of foreign special services, Ministry of National Security exchanges information on international terrorism, transnational organized crime and other spheres.

The Ministry of National Security plays particular role in Azerbaijan's involvement in the international ant-terror coalition. The detainment and extradition to the foreign countries of the internationally searched terrorists, the prohibition of the activity of organizations functioning under the humanitarian cover, but assisting to the terrorist structures, the freeze of different bank accounts related to the terrorists and other prominent results were achieved due to the professionalism and active work of the employees of the Ministry of National Security.

The Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Law of the Republic of Azerbaijan on National Security, Law of the Republic of Azerbaijan on Intelligence and Counter-Intelligence, Statute of the Ministry of National Security and other legal acts of the Republic of Azerbaijan, as well as legal acts of the executive bodies, and international agreements to which Azerbaijan is a party form the legal foundation of the activity of the Ministry of National Security. The Ministry fulfills within its competencies the following functions in cases and order, stipulated by the legislation of the Republic of Azerbaijan:

• 1. Takes actions for creating favorable conditions for realization of the state policy aiming at the ensuring the national security of the Republic of Azerbaijan;
• 2. For the purpose of ensuring national security, organizes and carries out intelligence, counter-intelligence and operatively-search activity, conducts inquiry and preliminary investigations in connection with criminal cases within its competencies;
• 3. Obtains and analyzes information on intentions, plans and activities of foreign special services, organizations and individuals targeting the national interests of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and forecasts real and potential threats against the national security; 
• 4 Takes actions aiming at the revealing, pre-empting and preventing intelligence, terror-subversive and other destructive and criminal activities of foreign special services and organizations, different criminal groups and individuals, directed against the sovereignty, territorial integrity, the bases of the constitutional order and security, economic, scientific and technical, defense potential and other national interests of the Republic of Azerbaijan;  
• 5 Fights international terrorism and other forms of transnational organized crime;
• 6. Informs the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and under the order of the President appropriate state bodies on threats against national security, also provides with necessary intelligence in connection with ensuring national security in political, economical, military, scientific-technical, ecological and other connected spheres;
• 7. Conducts counter-intelligence activity of the Ministry of Defense and structures subordinated to this Ministry, of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, of the State Border Service and structures subordinated to this Service and other military organizations (the Military troops and other armed forces for the purpose of the present statue) established according to the legislation; 
• 8. Takes actions for ensuring the security of military-industrial structures, energy, transport, communication and other strategically important spheres of economy, as well as scientific-technical researches and their results that are important in view of national security;    
• 9. In cases of necessity, takes actions for ensuring the personal security of employees of foreign diplomatic and other representations of the Republic of Azerbaijan and their families, during their staying in foreign countries, and during the foreign mission of  citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan who are competent for working with state secrets;
• 10. Participates in ensuring security of the protection of state secret, the regime of confidentiality, the special communication facilities and the codification activity in the state bodies, Armed Forces and other military units, departments, institutions and organizations of the Republic of Azerbaijan, in the foreign diplomatic and other representations of the Republic of Azerbaijan;   
• 11. Takes necessary measures for revealing, pre-empting, prevention of cases of infringement of rules of storage and transportation of the military equipments, activities aiming at weakening military potential, as well as theft, pillage, destruction of the state property, weapons, military ammunition, military equipments, toxic, explosive and radioactive substances in the Armed Forces and other military units;  
• 12. Informs the Armed Forces and other military units on cases of violation of the security regime of the military establishments and requirements for the protection of the state secret, as well as reasons of such violations, possible and revealed violations on protection of the state border of the Republic of Azerbaijan, about the cases that can lead to emergency situations in the Armed Forces and other military units;
• 13. Undertakes counter-measures against technical intelligence of foreign special services, conducts technical intelligence;
• 14. Takes comprehensive actions in the field of protection of informational technologies and programs that have an importance in view of national security. 
• 15. Participates in providing the state bodies and their senior officials with special means of communications in the order stipulated by the legislation;
• 16. Conducts accounts of events, facts, objects and other sources of the information in connection with maintenance of intelligence, counter-intelligence and operatively-search activity, commences the operatively-registration activity and registers it;
• 17. Fulfills courts decisions on conducting operatively-search measures, decisions or written assignments on criminal cases of investigatory bodies, as well as decisions of competent subjects of operatively- search activity;
• 18. Provides personal security of its employees, their close relatives, the persons assisting to the subjects of intelligence and counter-intelligence activity, as well as individuals participated in criminal process and their close relatives;
• 19. In cooperation with other state bodies, conducts struggle against smuggling, illegal circulation of the special technical equipments designed for illegally obtaining information, drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors, toxic, poisonous, radioactive, explosive substances and facilities, military equipments, fire-arms and military supplies, nuclear, chemical, biological and other types of weapons of muss destruction, materials and equipments that can be used in manufacture of the weapons of muss destruction, strategically important raw materials, objects of cultural, historical and archeological importance;
• 20. Conducts mutual activity with the state bodies and communication enterprises in the field of technical-organizational arrangements of operatively-search measures in communication networks;
• 21. In cases of obtaining information concerning the competences of other subjects of the operatively-search activity, while taking urgent measures in cases of necessity immediately informs the relevant bodies and renders necessary assistance to them;
• 22. Carries out mutual activity with other subjects of intelligence and counter-intelligence activity;
• 23. In cooperation with the State Border Service of the Republic of Azerbaijan, takes actions for operative maintenance of the state border of the Republic of Azerbaijan;
• 24. In cooperation with the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, takes actions on ensuring the security of the diplomatic and other representations of foreign states in territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan;
• 25. Prepares specialists for bodies of the Ministry, provides improvement of professional preparation of military personnel and employees, improvement of level of professional skills, moral and psychological preparedness;
• 26 Organizes and ensures mobilization preparedness of the Ministry;
• 27. Organizes registration and consideration of appeals and reception of citizens;
• 28. Arranges account of material and financial resources, conducts control over their utilization, checks activity of the structural divisions and inspects them;
• 29. Provides for pensions for the families of retired or transferred to the reserve military personnel from the Ministry in the order and cases stipulated by the legislation;
• 30. Takes comprehensive prophylactic, medical, sanatorium-resort and other measures for the protection of the health of the military personnel, employees, pensioners of the Ministry, and their families.
• 31. Ministry fulfills other functions stipulated by the legislation.