BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 1
Trend:
After the April war, the then leadership of Armenia practically promised to withdraw from the occupied territories, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said addressing the people of Azerbaijan on the occasion of the Day of Solidarity of World Azerbaijanis and the New Year, Trend reports.
“The April war was not a lesson for Armenia. The April battles, which lasted several days, resulted in our victory, albeit a small one. Armenia was forced to sit back. We liberated a part of our lands from the occupiers and showed that no-one and nothing can turn us away from our path. But this was not a lesson for them. After the April war, the then leadership of Armenia practically promised to withdraw from the occupied territories. This is true. But then they either organized this themselves or something like that really happened – a police unit was seized, a terrorist group committed an act of terror there, and then the Armenian leadership said that, as you can see, the situation here is quite tense and we can't do that. They deceived us. In 2018, the Gunnut operation, the Nakhchivan operation was another success. We took over a large area, liberated it from occupation and seized strategic heights. This was not a lesson for them either. In other words, we were giving them a chance. In 2018, some call it a revolution, others call it a coup, they know better – a change took place in Armenia. Hopes were awakened, and those hopes were not unfounded. I don't want to go into the nitty-gritty of that. We were hopeful that the new leadership would get rid of past mistakes and that this issue would be resolved. But this did not happen. Almost a year later, unacceptable steps were taken against us and we were actually deceived. They took time to resolve their internal problems, to quell the internal opposition, to arrest it. The Azerbaijani people know perfectly well what happened after that. Unacceptable statements, insults of the Azerbaijani people, inappropriate actions, disgraceful steps, statements and provocative military operations – in July, August and finally on 27 September. And I said enough is enough, forward! Within 44 days, the enemy army was destroyed. There is no Armenian army today,” the head of state said.