BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 24. Zangazur's separation from Azerbaijan and its annexation to Armenia was another crime against Azerbaijani people, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said at the meeting with intellectuals from Western Azerbaijan on December 24, Trend reports.
"There have been glorious pages in our history, but, unfortunately, there have been dark pages as well. I have repeatedly expressed my views on the establishment of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and its short-term activities. I have given a high assessment to the activities of the founding fathers of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. It was indeed the first republic in the Muslim world on a global scale, although it only existed for two years. At the same time, we should not forget the black pages of our history, we should not cover them up. First of all, historical truth should not be presented in a distorted manner. Secondly, that tragic event should serve as a lesson for all of us.
At that time, there were people who tried to justify that decision with various reasons, and there are still such people now. But I think that no explanation is acceptable, because the Armenians were not content with that. If anyone at all believed that Armenia and the Armenians would be content with depriving the people living in Iravan of their native land unbeknownst to them, they were making a huge mistake, and subsequent history showed that again. In 1920, by a decision of the Soviet government and on the insistence of Armenian nationalists, Zangazur, another historical land of ours, was severed from Azerbaijan and annexed to Armenia. This was yet another crime against our people. And the goal behind this was quite clear. First, Armenian nationalists were holding important positions in the Soviet government. On the other hand, it was a step taken to separate Azerbaijan from Nakhchivan and Turkiye from a geographical point of view.
In other words, just notice how many tragedies were unleashed on our people in a matter of two years. If anyone believed that by handing over Iravan to Armenia in 1918 we could have insured ourselves against bigger problems, the handover of Zangazur to Armenia shows again that it was an erroneous and wrong act and, as I said, an act of treason. You should never step back, you should always protect your rights, especially your native land, even in the face of someone stronger than you," President Ilham Aliyev said.