BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 5. Results of the Armenian occupation and aggression is now seen by everyone who visits the liberated territories, President Ilham Aliyev said addressing the First Azerbaijan National Urban Forum in Aghdam city, Trend reports.
"Relatively recently we have discovered and neutralized more than 1.400 landmines which have been planted in Lachin district by Armenian armed forces in the period after the second Karabakh war ended. So, aggression against Azerbaijan, terror against Azerbaijan continues. Our nation suffered a serious humanitarian crisis. Because as a result of Armenian aggression and occupation more than one million Azerbaijanis were totally ethnically cleansed from their native land in Karabakh, in Zangazur and also in today’s Armenia. And when it happened the population of Azerbaijan was less than eight million people and, can you imagine, one million became refugees and IDPs. And we are very grateful to international organizations especially, institutions of the United Nations, for support to our refugees and IDPs especially in the early years of independence when we needed the support seriously. Results of the Armenian occupation and aggression is now seen by everyone who visits the liberated territories and since the second Karabakh war ended there have been thousands of foreign visitors, journalists, politicians, representatives of civil society who came here and saw it with their own eyes. The scope of Armenian barbarism and vandalism actually is so impressive so that many people who come to this part of Azerbaijan really feel absolutely exhausted morally. And you can imagine the feelings of us, of Azerbaijanis and especially those who used to live in Aghdam, in Fuzuli in other part of Azerbaijan which was under occupation when they come here. They cannot even find the place where their house was situated. Because everything is totally destroyed. Armenia conducting the policy of occupation had main target as to change de facto situation on the ground, and to make then negotiation process with Azerbaijan endless. That was the reason why negotiations lasted for 28 years, without any results. The result was actually zero. Despite the fact that the leading international organizations such as the United Nations, the OSCE and others adopted resolutions, decisions demanding immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Armenian troops from Azerbaijani territories, particularly four UN Security Council resolutions which remained on paper for almost 30 years. And despite all our appeals to impose sanctions on Armenia we did not succeed. So, international community decided in a way to turn a blind eye on the humanitarian catastrophe of Azerbaijani people. The most regrettable is that the structure which had a mandate from the OSCE, the so-called Minsk Group and its co-chairs visited occupied territories many times, witnessed the brutal devastation of all the cities and villages, witnessed illegal settlement of Armenians on our lands, but did not condemn Armenia. Throughout 28 years of their so-called activity there was not a single word of condemnation of Armenia by them. Of course, now when we see some efforts to revitalize this Minsk Group, we, of course, cannot be supportive to that. Because they did nothing to implement their mandate. The only thing they did actually to a certain degree, they tried to legitimize the Armenian aggression. They tried to create a balance between aggressor and the victim of aggression," the head of state said.