BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 10
Trend:
During the war, we heard many lies from the Armenian authorities. There was so much false, so much absurd information coming from their Ministry of Defense – it is probably worth changing its name to the ministry of falsehood – that the international experts and we were simply amazed. The extent of the lies about Hadrut had reached its peak. The liberation of Hadrut caused a profound moral and psychological shock in Armenia, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said addressing the meeting with members of the general public of Khojavand district, Trend reports.
"The Azerbaijani public is well aware that there was a lot of false information in the Armenian media about the Hadrut operation. After we had already cleared all the mountains around Hadrut of the invaders, it became clear that the liberation of this settlement was simply a matter of time. We were determined to liberate the settlement with minimum losses, and we succeeded in doing that. The Armenian leadership and the Armenian defense ministry was stating that Hadrut was still in the hands of the Armenians. They claimed that they had allegedly resorted to another tactical retreat and had already returned to Hadrut by removing Azerbaijani soldiers from Hadrut. Seeing all these lies, I was simply amazed because it was crystal clear that Hadrut was already in our hands. I ordered that the Azerbaijani flag be raised in Hadrut to put an end to these lies of the Armenians. After that, after Azerbaijani soldiers and officers had raised our state flag in Hadrut and reported to me, the Armenian official propaganda admitted that Hadrut was under the control of the Azerbaijani Army.
This shows yet again that the Armenian propaganda was based on lies during the occupation, during the war and in the post-war period. Their history is false, their past is false, their statehood is false and their mythology is false. Armenians of the world have simply created the false impression in the countries where they live that the Armenian people have allegedly lived on these lands for centuries. The Armenians were resettled to Hadrut from Iran in the 19th century. Everyone knows that. There were no Armenians here prior to that. They have falsified history and are still falsifying the present-day realities. During the war, we heard many lies from the Armenian authorities. There was so much false, so much absurd information coming from their Ministry of Defense – it is probably worth changing its name to the ministry of falsehood – that the international experts and we were simply amazed. The extent of the lies about Hadrut had reached its peak. The liberation of Hadrut caused a profound moral and psychological shock in Armenia.
First of all, because they had believed that the Azerbaijani Army could never liberate Hadrut. Secondly because Hadrut was the administrative center of Hadrut district of the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region. It was the center of the region. The Armenian leadership and the Armenian public were convinced that all our lands were our lands for us – whether it is Fuzuli, Jabrayil, Zangilan, Hadrut, Shusha or Sugovushan. The liberation of settlements of the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region from the occupiers showed Armenia that we would not stop until Armenia undertakes to withdraw from all our lands, and we didn’t stop. After Armenia was ready to sign the act of capitulation and after we received information about that, we said that were stopping, we stopped and returned the remaining districts by political means.
Therefore, the Hadrut operation was of great strategic, historical, moral and psychological importance. Today, the former Hadrut district of the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region is completely free of the occupiers. After the war had ended, a special sabotage group was sent to some villages of Hadrut district from Shirak region of Armenia. In late November, they crossed the Lachin corridor and entered these areas. As you know, they were disarmed and arrested. Those who did not commit crimes were returned, while those who committed crimes and saboteurs had to answer in court. What I am saying is that about 20 days, two weeks after the war had ended and Armenia had signed the act of capitulation, they tried to attack Hadrut again. But the Azerbaijani Armed Forces took the necessary steps.
According to the administrative-territorial division of Azerbaijan, Hadrut settlement is a part of Khojavand district. By joining Hadrut and Martuni districts, which were once a part of the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region, we joined them – we have created Khojavand district. I must also say that about 55-60 percent of the former Martuni district has been liberated from the occupiers and Azerbaijani citizens will return to those regions," the head of state said.