BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 14. Azerbaijan was facing threats from all directions until 1993, Secretary of the Azerbaijani Security Council, Colonel-General Ramil Usubov said in an interview with the Azerbaijan newspaper, Trend reports.
According to Usubov, the National Salvation Day of Azerbaijanis [marked in Azerbaijan every year on June 15] symbolizes the beginning of the transition from chaos and turmoils to stability, from political and economic crisis to development, true independence, which the great leader Heydar Aliyev brought to Azerbaijan.
He noted that the great victory achieved thanks to the President of Azerbaijan, Supreme Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev [in the 2020 Second Karabakh War] is the logical continuation of the doings of national leader Heydar Aliyev.
Usubov stressed that from salvation to victory, the people and the Armed Forces of the country, faithful to the legacy of Heydar Aliyev, passed a difficult, responsible and honorable path under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev, worthily fulfilling the historic testament of the great leader and putting an end to the 30-year occupation of Azerbaijani lands.
"In the period before 1993, there were serious security threats in all areas - in the military, political, economic, social, informational, environmental, food and other spheres, in a country which had just regained independence, and there was no strong and stable security system,” he said. “Our people called on Heydar Aliyev to return to leadership with a rescue mission to ensure security in the country because without security and stability, development couldn’t be achieved, independence wouldn’t be protected, and statehood wouldn’t be formed, and the great leader carried out this difficult mission to save the country, having made this the main goal of his activity.”
He noted that President Ilham Aliyev, characterizing the occupation of Karabakh as the main threat to national security, defined the liberation of the country's historical territories from Armenian occupation as the main goal, and this goal was reached.
The mission carried out by the great leader Heydar Aliyev became a solid foundation and a successful start in the process of creating the national security system of independent Azerbaijan, and the historic victory in the second Karabakh war marked the achievement of the ultimate goal, Usubov said.
According to him, the reality created with the signing of the trilateral statement dated November 10, 2020 [signed between Azerbaijani, Armenian and Russian leaders following the second Karabakh war], along with the implementation of the main goals of the national security system of Azerbaijan, marked the beginning of the stage of its more perfect strengthening in accordance with the challenges of present time.
The Azerbaijani president defines new tasks, directions, and goals in the concept of the country's security. The Shusha Declaration [signed by Azerbaijani and Turkish presidents on June 15, 2021] is of particular importance in this context, being regarded as one of the solid foundations for the stability of the security system, Usubov said.