BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 12
Trend:
I have been in contact with many heads of international organizations and heads of state, I see that we now have more and more support for our cause, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said in an interview with local TV channels on January 12, 2022, Trend reports.
“A year after the war, I am satisfied with the reaction of the international community. But I must say that this is largely the result of our work. Because, after the war ended, the very next day, on my instructions, we started working for the results of the war to be accepted by the entire international community. In other words, we didn’t stop for a single day, both in terms of restoring the territories and, as I have already said, in regulating the hundreds of kilometers of the border and in terms of acceptance by the international community. This work has been gradual but we have still achieved it. It we recall the early statements by the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, we will see that they were completely detached from the new realities. From time to time, we observed issues both related to the conflict and other unacceptable matters. However, if we look at their statements later, we will see references to both the 10 November Trilateral Statement and other documents. So the reality already prevails. And, as you know, Azerbaijan is no longer a country whose interests can be ignored. Of course, we have never exaggerated and should not exaggerate ourselves, but we should not underestimate ourselves either. We have created a new reality within the framework of our constitutional rights, the UN Charter, the Helsinki Final Act, and everyone must take this reality into account. This was not an easy task. It was work invisible to the public because we could not do it openly. Otherwise, we could have hurt ourselves. Therefore, it was a permanent job. As a result, international organizations – the UN, the Non-Aligned Movement, the OSCE, the European Union, the CIS – have now fully accepted these realities. We see this both in a formal sense and through interpersonal contacts. Moreover, as I have been in contact with many heads of international organizations and heads of state, I see that we now have more and more support for our cause. True, it happened after everything was over. Of course, many are telling us that we were right, that we did everything right, that they have always been on our side. But for some reason many preferred to remain silent. You know, winners always have a lot of friends. We have seen this many times in history, but at least this is a positive step, and I must say that it has probably been influenced by the course of the second Karabakh war. We fought that war with dignity, as men, without violating international humanitarian norms. I have repeatedly said that there were few casualties among Armenian civilians. The victims were only their civilians who fought in the war. The Armenian side has committed mean attacks and constantly bombed our cities. A total of 16,000 shells landed on Tartar alone. Just imagine a small town and 16,000 shells landing on it. What about Ganja, what about Shusha, what about Scuds, what about Iskanders!” the head of state said.
“I have not yet talked about another episode of the war. This conversation probably took place for the first time when we were moving towards Zangilan on the border with Armenia and were a few kilometers from Aghband settlement. We received information that the Armenian side requested that Russia send a part of the contingent of the Russian military base in Gyumri there, to the border, to Zangilan. They wanted to justify this by claiming that Azerbaijan intends to seize the Mehri part of Armenia's territory. We had no such intentions. However, a very limited contingent of the Russian base in Gyumri was sent there. We got this operative information. Immediately after this, the Armenian armed forces began firing on Azerbaijani troops from behind Russian servicemen. The distance was very small, so they were using mortars. We had casualties there. Of course, we responded and they immediately appealed to Russia claiming that Azerbaijan was allegedly firing on Russian servicemen. Can you imagine such ignominy? By the way, the Russian side, in subsequent contacts with us, accepted this incident the way I have described it. This is nothing but ignominy. In other words, they wanted us to harm the Russian servicemen by firing back at Armenian positions, so that they could achieve their goals and involve Russia in this war,” President Ilham Aliyev said.
“Many events that took place during the war are evidence of the mean nature of the Armenian side’s actions. Even in relation to their own servicemen. We have found so many bodies of Armenian servicemen who were chained to their vehicles and trucks. The Armenian military and political command ordered that deserters should be shot on the spot. We have all this information because we watched the whole area not only in Karabakh, but also most parts of Armenia. Therefore, we had reliable information about what was happening. By the way, things are the same now,” Azerbaijani president said.
“I think that this factor has also played a role. In my opinion, another factor is that we immediately organized visits of diplomats, journalists and public figures from different countries to the liberated territories. They were all in shock. And so are we all. Everyone there was simply shocked. We hadn’t known the scale of vandalism and barbarism. This completely subverted the whole ideological concept of the Armenians of being a civilized people, an ancient people surrounded by barbaric Muslims, a noble people in the Caucasus and a product of Christianity. Can a noble nation do such a thing? To dig the dead out of the graves, to extract their gold teeth, to break the gravestones and sell them to neighboring countries, to destroy mosques, to keep pigs there. We have shown all this, although there was no need for showing anything because could come there and see it themselves. When I said to the Muslim countries during the occupation that the Armenians were committing horrific acts there, insulting the holy shrines of all Muslims, many may not have believed it, but how will they react when they see it now? In other words, another turnaround has taken place in understanding what is happening here, in realizing that we are right not only historically, legally and politically, but also in terms of sheer humanity. We have not committed anything like that. Everything in the villages under our control – I mean the villages inhabited by Armenians – is safe and sound. When I was in Hadrut a year later, not a single building has been touched. During the occupation, mainly Armenians lived there. This, in general, contradicts the nature of the Azerbaijani people. No tombstones were broken. No churches were destroyed. But as you probably know, I am talking about the UNESCO saga, they tried to accuse us almost of vandalism. They thought that we would destroy the churches now. We agreed the route of the Armenians' arrival here with them. They and some countries associated with them wanted to come here very much. When we organized visits of foreign diplomats and foreign journalists to the liberated territories, when they saw that these churches and these graves were in place, the topic of UNESCO's visit was removed from the agenda. This is the story. We were inviting them throughout the years. What was the answer? It was said that UNESCO did not deal with political issues. As soon as the second Karabakh war ended, they started insisting on coming here. We agreed on the routes and so on. What happened during this period is known too well. They saw themselves that we are not destroying anything, but if they come here, they will see the destroyed mosques, the destroyed cemeteries and historical monuments, the destroyed cities, so they will just have to acknowledge who did it. They don't want to do that. All these factors, as well as our active diplomatic work, created conditions for the acceptance of these realities in the world. I think this is a great success. Because after this war, in fact, we overturned all the predictions and assumptions of Armenia, a country with its world-class patrons, about what will happen if the war starts. Of course, I think that the world has seen how attached the Azerbaijani people are to their land, how prepared they are to make sacrifice and take great risks. This factor has also played a role. Because the reaction of Armenia’s patrons on 27 September could not have been predicted even by me – someone who knew or could have predicted it. All this has played a role. Therefore, respect for our people and our country has incredibly increased. We are seeing that. Everyone, every Azerbaijani, everyone living far from Azerbaijan can see and feel it now. The second Karabakh war does not only mean the liberation of the territories, the awakening of the national spirit and the return of dignity, it has a huge multiplier and positive effect, and I think it will always have a positive effect,” the head of state said.