BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 28
Trend:
We are still showing restraint, but our patience has a limit. The second Karabakh war showed exactly what happens when our patience runs out. Therefore, we are giving the Armenian leadership a chance to fulfill all the provisions of the Statement signed on 10 November and act responsibly, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said in an interview to the Turkish Anadolu Agency, Trend reports.
“By signing this statement, Armenia assumed certain obligations and had to fulfill them. These obligations were fulfilled immediately after the war. In other words, the statement explicitly spoke about the withdrawal of Armenian forces from the districts that were under occupation at the time, and 20 days after the war ended, the Aghdam, Kalbajar, and Lachin districts were returned to us. At that time, Armenia approached this issue very responsibly. Why? Because it was in fear because it knew that had it not signed the Statement on 10 November, it could have found itself in an even more precarious situation. In other words, no force could stop us. When addressing the Azerbaijani people during the war on a number of occasions, I said that Armenia should provide us with a timetable, submit a calendar of it is going to leave our lands, and we are ready to stop the war immediately,” the Azerbaijani president said.
“That date was given to us on 9 November. Armenia signed an act of capitulation, or it surrendered, and the war ended on 10 November. So the solution to these important issues was preconditioned by the fact that Armenia was in fear. But what happened after that? Peacekeeping forces arrived, a certain time passed, and the solution of other issues was suspended. It is explicitly stated there that the Armenian armed forces must completely withdraw from our lands. But are we seeing that today? No! On the contrary, about 15-20 days after the end of the war, a sabotage group of 62 people was sent to the liberated lands from Armenia through the territory under the responsibility of the peacekeeping forces – the Lachin corridor. This runs completely counter to the 10 November statement. The Azerbaijani army neutralized them and they were arrested. They are called prisoners of war today. But look up international conventions and see who can be considered a prisoner of war. These are not prisoners of war. The war ended and the Statement was signed on 10 November. Any soldier sent there afterward must be qualified as a member of a sabotage group. So this problem has not been resolved. This is a very important issue, and we insist that it be resolved, fully resolved. It may have been resolved in part,” President Aliyev said.
“Another issue is related to the opening of corridors. The statement signed in the early hours of 10 November indicates the need for the establishment of communication between mainland Azerbaijan and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. Has such communication been provided? No. However, it will not take a long time to provide such communication. The length of overland roads there is only 40 kilometers. In the year after the war, we have built over a thousand kilometers of roads – both unpaved and asphalt roads. The opening of a 40-kilometer road there is not a major problem. Despite this – Armenia has even acknowledged that – the discussions remained fruitless. In other words, Armenia is flagrantly violating the provisions of the 10 November Statement. We are still showing restraint, but our patience has a limit. The second Karabakh war showed exactly what happens when our patience overflows. Therefore, we are giving the Armenian leadership a chance to fulfill all the provisions of the Statement signed on 10 November and act responsibly,” the head of state said.