BAKU, Azerbaijan, Dec.8
By Jani Babayeva - Trend:
The Supreme Commander of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, President Ilham Aliyev played a crucial role in the military victory achieved by Azerbaijan in the 44-day war (from Sept.27 through Nov.9, 2020) for the liberation of its lands from Armenian occupation, Editor-in-Chief of Russia’s National Defense journal, military expert Igor Korotchenko told Trend on Dec.8.
According to Korotchenko, the creation of a powerful army that won the victory is also exceptional, personal merit of Azerbaijan’s president.
"As a state leader, as the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev did everything to ensure that the country was ready for war," he said.
Speaking about the signing of the trilateral agreement on Karabakh between presidents of Azerbaijan and Russia, and the Armenian prime-minister to cease the war, the expert noted that it can be called an act of unconditional surrender of Armenia.
"Signing the trilateral agreement made it possible to restore the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan by political means, and this is a triumph of politics, the head of state and the supreme commander-in-chief," he said.
Korotchenko pointed out that President Ilham Aliyev went down in the history of Azerbaijan and world history as the head of state who managed to restore the territorial integrity of his country after the 30-year occupation of 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s territory by Armenia.
According to him, the liberation of the occupied territories will contribute to the further growth of tourism and agro-industrial sectors and will lead to new achievements of Azerbaijan in the development of the economy.
The expert also noted that the liberated territories have significant reserves of minerals, including gold mines, which will contribute to significant growth in Azerbaijan’s gold and foreign exchange reserves, and will allow the country's mining industry to develop.
All the above factors will go to benefit of the Azerbaijani national wealth, he concluded.
Following over a month of military action to liberate its territories from Armenian occupation, Azerbaijan has pushed Armenia to sign the surrender document. A joint statement on the matter was made by the Azerbaijani president, Armenia's PM, and the president of Russia.
A complete ceasefire and a cessation of all hostilities in the zone of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is introduced at 00:00 hours (Moscow time) on 10 November 2020.
Armenian Armed Forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of the Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery on Sept. 27. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front.
Back in July 2020, the Armenian Armed Forces violated the ceasefire in the direction of Azerbaijan's Tovuz district. As a result of Azerbaijan's retaliation, the opposing forces were silenced. The fighting continued the following days as well. Azerbaijan lost a number of military personnel members, who died fighting off the attacks of the Armenian Armed Forces.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, the Armenian Armed Forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.