Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 12
Trend:
“Azerbaijan has made a worthy contribution to our common victory over fascism,” said Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev addressing the limited format session of the Council of CIS Heads of State in Ashgabat, capital of Turkmenistan.
The head of state noted that one of the issues on the agenda of today's summit is the appeal of the heads of state to the peoples of Commonwealth countries and the world community in connection with the 75th anniversary of victory in World War II.
“Both on the frontline of this most destructive and bloody war and in its rear, our peoples displayed true heroism and courage, which still serve as an example for future generations. Azerbaijan has made a worthy contribution to our common victory over fascism. More than 600,000 sons and daughters of Azerbaijan fought on the fronts of World War II and half of them lost their lives for our common victory. In recognition of the courage shown during the years of war, more than 130 representatives of Azerbaijan were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Over 170,000 of our soldiers and officers were awarded various orders and medals. Azerbaijan provided the whole country with fuel. Azerbaijan accounted for more than 70 percent of oil, 80 percent of gasoline and 90 percent of motor oils so necessary for the front. Without this, the Soviet army could not have defeated the enemy. There is famous military footage when Hitler is presented with a cake, and on this cake there is a depression filled with melted black chocolate and the names of the Caspian Sea and Baku written on it in German. Hitler is shown scooping chocolate with a spoon, pouring it over the cake and then placing a swastika-shaped piece of chocolate over Baku. This underlines Nazi plans to seize the oil fields of Azerbaijan, as well as their plans, as we all know, to seize the oil fields of the North Caucasus. And if the Nazis had managed to capture Baku, the Soviet army would have been left without the fuel so necessary for the victory, while the city of Baku would have been blown up because in the event of this emergency scenario the Soviet government had mined all the oil wells so that they did not go to the enemy. Therefore, there would have been probably hundreds of thousands of victims,” said the president.