Details added (first version posted on 10:52)
Baku, Azerbaijan, June 3
Trend:
The 4th Congress of World Azerbaijanis kicked off in Baku on June 3, with participation of the country's President Ilham Aliyev.
President Aliyev said that while addressing the May 31 meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in Astana, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan lied four times.
"Everyone is aware of the results of the April battles. It is very surprising that in this situation, the Armenian leadership tries to deceive the world. It tries to deceive its people, and the international community as well," said the president.
"As a result, Armenia puts itself in a ridiculous position. First they said that they haven't lost territories, on the contrary they occupied the Azerbaijani lands. Further they said that they have gained victory, then said that they have lost those territories and those lands have no value," said President Aliyev.
"Then they said that these territories have value and Azerbaijan should return those lands. If those territories have no value, then why should Azerbaijan return them? They got completely confused," added the president.
President Aliyev pointed out that the Armenian leadership exposed itself with its remarks.
"The latest example for this was the remarks made by Armenia's president during the recent meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in Astana. He said that Azerbaijan carried out these activities in April, the "army of Nagorno-Karabakh" took control of the situation and Azerbaijan asked Russia to ensure the suspension of fighting. He lied four times in one sentence," said President Aliyev.
The president pointed out that Armenia was the instigator of the April battles, because it doesn't want peace.
When Armenia saw increasing pressure on it regarding the peaceful settlement of the conflict, changing the status quo which means the withdrawal of Armenian troops from the occupied lands, it resorted to provocations, said President Aliyev.
"They were attacking our positions before the April battles as well, and not only on the line of contact, but in the other direction, in Gazakh, our serviceman was killed," he said. "They were constantly shelling our villages, launching attacks on our territories."
The president recalled that in 2014, Armenians staged another provocation: Armenian military helicopter violated the airspace on the contact line.
"The helicopter was shot down and Armenians used this as a pretext. The talks were frozen for a year. That is, Armenians always resort to provocations when they see increasing pressure on them," he added.
President Aliyev said the April battles were the similar kind of provocation, adding that the Azerbaijani army gave an adequate response and stopped the enemy.
"It was the first lie. The second lie is that the "army of Nagorno-Karabakh" took the situation under control. What kind of control is this if they admit that they have lost 800 hectares of territories? It is a very strange control. First, I should mention that the Azerbaijani army liberated not 800 hectares, but 2,000 hectares of territories from the occupants," said the president.
President Aliyev noted that over 2,000 hectares of territories have been liberated from the occupants in Aghdere, the administrative territory of the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast, Fizuli and Jabrayil districts.
"Currently, the Azerbaijan army controls several times larger territory and the Armenian army can't move there," said the president.
The third, the "army of Nagorno-Karabakh" doesn't exist, said the president, adding that it is a myth, mythology misleading the international community.
"The servicemen serving in the Armenian armed units in Nagorno-Karabakh are Armenian citizens," said the president, adding that 80 percent of them are Armenian citizens and the "army of Nagorno-Karabakh" is a myth.
The fourth lie is that allegedly, Azerbaijan asked Russia to ensure the suspension of the April battles, said the president, adding that it is a lie, Azerbaijan hasn't made such a request.
President Aliyev noted that after these clashes, Azerbaijan carried out a counteroffensive and immediately gained the needed positions.
"After this, the Armenian army attempted to regain those positions throughout 2-3 days. Seeing that they can't succeed, suffer losses and if they do not stop, they will lose more territories, Armenians appealed to Russia," said Azerbaijan's president.
President Aliyev noted that the chief of General Staff of Russian Armed Forces made a phone call to the chief of General Staff of Azerbaijani Armed Forces, saying that Armenia asks for restoring the ceasefire and invited the chief of General Staff of Azerbaijani Armed Forces to talks in Moscow.
"After this, Russia's president made a phone call to me and put forward the same proposal - to restore the ceasefire and we agreed to restore the ceasefire on April 5," said the president.
"It is the reality and I don't know another president who lied four times in one sentence. It should necessarily be included in the Guinness Book of Records as an anti-record. Let Armenia take the first place in the world at least in something," he added.
President Aliyev said that the April battles once again showed Azerbaijan's power and the strength of the Azerbaijani army.