BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 30. Special forces have made an immense contribution to our victory in the Patriotic War, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Ilham Aliyev said making a speech during his visit to a military unit of the Special Forces of the Defense Ministry as the Special Forces mark the 23rd anniversary of its establishment, Trend reports.
"I know this as the Supreme Commander-in-Chief and I have told the Azerbaijani public about it. All the people of Azerbaijan know this, and the enemy knows it. The liberation of our villages from the first days of the war shook up the enemy. They did not believe that the Azerbaijani Army could achieve this historic victory by breaking through five or six lines of defense with its chest, shedding blood and giving martyrs. They were still hoping that someone would stop us, that someone would put pressure on us and that we would stop our Victory March under that pressure. I said that nothing and no-one could stop us, that we would go to the end, that we would drive the enemy out of our lands until the end, and that the war could stop only after the enemy signed an act of capitulation, and this is exactly what happened. We proved our commitment to our word. From the very first days, our army was moving forward and never took a step back. According to their own confessions, there were more than 10,000 deserters in the Armenian army during the war. There was not a single deserter in the Azerbaijani Army. These are the moral qualities of the Azerbaijani people. These are our national spirit and love of the Motherland. It was the love of the homeland, but at the same time, training and professionalism that drove us forward.
In all our key operations, special forces were at the forefront. I would like to emphasize the role of special forces, along with other military units, in liberating our cities and villages. After a series of successful operations, our path to Shusha was opened. By saying path, we understand there was no road. After the successful Hadrut operation, which drastically increased the number of deserters in Armenia, they did not believe that we would go in that direction. They were waiting for us in a different direction. But our lions and heroes paved the way forward with their own hands, with their own feet and with their own chests. The direction was Shusha and it passed through valleys, forests and paths. I said during the war that our work would be incomplete without Shusha. From the first day to the last day of the war, our goal was to liberate Shusha, our beloved city, the crown of Karabakh, from Armenian occupation, and we achieved that, you achieved that, the special forces achieved that. Our tireless heroes took days to cross through those valleys and forests, with only light weapons in their hands. They liberated many villages along the way, shed blood, gave martyrs, but did not stop and only marched forward. Everyone who comes to Shusha today is simply puzzled – how did the children of Azerbaijan liberate this impregnable fortress? Every time one goes to Shusha via Victory Road, one keeps wondering about that. The number of people going to Shusha via Victory Road has significantly increased of late – both Azerbaijani and foreign citizens. During their subsequent contacts with me, people ask me how we could build this road in Azerbaijan in such a short time? And I say in reply that this is not the main issue – just imagine how our soldiers and officers passed through those forests, paving that road, and by naming this road Victory Road, we have inscribed this glorious Victory in our history once again," the head of state said.