BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 20. Greater work will be done to fully restore Karabakh and Eastern Zangazur, and we will do it, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said making a press statement together with President of the Republic of Turkiye Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Jabrayil city on October 20, Trend reports.
Statement by President Ilham Aliyev: My dear brother, distinguished Mr. President.
Dear guests.
It is a very significant day in the life of our country today. It is a great privilege for me to welcome my dear brother to Jabrayil and Zangilan. Today we celebrated the opening of Zangilan Airport together. A year ago, with the participation of my dear brother, we also opened Fuzuli Airport together, and today we opened Zangilan Airport. This shows that we are side by side on all our good days.
It is a very important day for Karabakh and Eastern Zangazur today. It is also the second anniversary of the liberation of Zangilan city from occupation. Exactly two years ago, the Armenian occupation ended. The Azerbaijan Army liberated the city of Zangilan, and the presence of the President of Turkiye in Azerbaijan, in Zangilan and Jabrayl, is of particular importance on such a day.
A few days after the liberation of Zangilan, Gubadli was freed from the Armenian occupation. One group of the Azerbaijan Army started to advance in the direction of Lachin, while another went in the direction of Shusha. Shusha, considered an impregnable fortress, was liberated from Armenian occupation on 8 November. The Azerbaijani flag was raised there and after that Armenia surrendered.
All this glorious history is our common history. Because from the first hours of the second Karabakh war, my dear brother, President of Turkiye Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his support for Azerbaijan. He said that Azerbaijan was not alone and that Turkiye stood by Azerbaijan. This political and moral support continued until the last day of the war. This gave us additional strength and prevented some forces from interfering in this matter. Turkish-Azerbaijani unity has triumphed once again. Today, we are witnessing Turkish-Azerbaijani unity in Karabakh and Zangazur being restored. Large-scale restoration and construction work is underway. Today, together with my dear brother, we got acquainted with the construction of the railway and celebrated the opening of the “Dost Agropark” together. This is the first private investment in this region, and the name of this agricultural park, “Dost Agropark”, says it all. Turkish companies work with us in building and road construction projects. We are grateful to Turkish companies for doing great things in such a short period of time. The construction of roads – some of the roads are ready now – railways and 33 tunnels is on the agenda. Several of them are already fully operational. The total length of the tunnels is more than 50 kilometers. A total of 84 bridges will be built, some of them have already been completed. The total length of the bridges is 12 kilometers. This is only the work that has been done and will be done as part of the first stage. Greater work will be done to fully restore Karabakh and Eastern Zangazur, and we will do it.
Today, our official ceremony was held in Jabrayil. In fact, there is no city of Jabrayil per se because right where we are sitting, there were buildings, people lived and worked. But during the Armenian occupation, Armenians destroyed all our cities and villages. These destroyed buildings are what is left of the city of Jabrayil. This destruction was not caused in the first Karabakh war, but by the Armenians during the years of occupation. They have so much hatred for the people of Azerbaijan that they razed all our buildings to the ground. The main goal behind this was that Azerbaijanis should never return to these lands. There would be no place to return. However, we have returned, we have returned by shedding blood, we have returned by fighting our way. And today, life is returning to this region, and we see this in the example of Aghali village. I was in Aghali village yesterday and visited a school there. Seventy children are going to that school. None of those kids had ever seen this place before. In fact, even the parents of many of them were born during the years of occupation, many of them were children when the occupation took place. But they are back. Because the land draws people to itself, the Motherland draws them, and we will all return. All former IDPs will return. We are doing our best for their return, working day and night, and our Turkish brothers are with us in this restoration and construction work.
It is yet another celebration of Turkiye-Azerbaijan unity and brotherhood today. A powerful country such as Turkiye is our brother, and it is an immense happiness for us. The second Karabakh war and the period after the war have strengthened this unity even more. Last year, we signed the Shusha Declaration in Shusha, and Turkiye and Azerbaijan officially became allies. We became allies in all areas, and this is a huge celebration for our people. At the same time, it is a serious message to the region and the world. Because Turkish-Azerbaijani unity is a very important factor in the region. It is a factor of peace and stability. But, at the same time, if someone still wants to act unfairly against us, of course, they should seriously consider this factor.
Thanks to the leadership of my dear brother, Turkiye has made great strides in recent years, becoming a global powerhouse. Stability and development in Turkiye are obvious. Today, there is a crisis in many countries of the world, countries are becoming ungovernable, economic difficulties and hardships are causing people's legitimate protest. Turkiye, on the other hand, is moving forward with confidence, implementing huge projects, having a say in the region, and acting as an important powerhouse on a global scale. Everyone should reckon with this and everyone should know that the cause of these successes is my brother Recep Tayyip Erdogan. There is great respect and love for Tayyib Bey in Azerbaijan, and every person who comes to Azerbaijan can see this.
After the second Karabakh war, Turkish-Azerbaijani brotherhood and unity rose to an even higher level. You probably also see that the flags of Azerbaijan and Turkiye are flying together everywhere. These feelings come from the heart, this is the legacy of our ancestors, their legacy, and this is the demand of our time. The fact that my dear brother is here today with a large delegation and government representatives shows again that we are together, as always, and we will be together. Work in the region will, of course, continue to be carried out with the active participation and approval of Turkiye and Azerbaijan – be it political, economic, energy or transport initiatives. Our cooperation in all these fields has already gone beyond the regional framework and reached the international level.
My dear brother, I want to thank you once again for being here with us on this significant day. I want to wish happiness and peace to the people of fraternal Turkiye. Long live Turkish-Azerbaijani unity and brotherhood!