Mehdiyev was appointed Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan in December 1991 , during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict , replacing General Valeh Barshadly . In an interview with British journalist Thomas de Waal , 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 , Malibeyli and Gushchular , and Garadaghly and were lost to Armenian forces . On February 17 , 1992 with the fall of Garadaghly village of Khojavend Rayon 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 before Tahir Aliyev took over
fall of Khojaly
Khojaly Massacre
Tajaddin Mehdiyev