BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 24. The second Karabakh war, the two years that have passed since the war, have shown that no-one can influence us, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said at a meeting with intellectuals from Western Azerbaijan, Trend reports.
"The liberation of Karabakh and Eastern Zangazur on the battlefield is a historic event and will remain in the history of Azerbaijan for as long as Azerbaijan stands. Both our military and political successes achieved this year have laid the groundwork for the future. It was good for our return, for our security, and it served as a lesson for those who don't want to accept Azerbaijan as a strong state. It showed once again that no-one and nothing can stop us. I have already said this several times and want to say it again today. The events taking place on the Lachin road today have caused yet another anti-Azerbaijani hysteria. It is not so much Armenia here, but their foreign patrons, the states standing behind them that have started a smear campaign against Azerbaijan. And as we are meeting here today, another provocation is being prepared against us at the UN. For several days now, some particularly zealous countries have been determined to carry out their dirty plans against us. But they have been unable to achieve anything for several days now. They will continue their efforts next week. The developments on the Lachin road are clear as day. This is our legitimate right. Our natural resources are being exploited and our natural resources are being transported. Those exploiting our natural resources are criminals according to any international legal norm. This is our territory recognized by the international community, and we have a legitimate demand for our public representatives, first of all, representatives of state bodies, to be able to conduct monitoring there. They should see what is going on there and demand that all illegal activity be stopped. This is our legitimate demand. However, this situation is being presented in a completely distorted manner. There are lies again, there is slander again, and we all know who is doing that. Let me say again that the state of Armenia is not in the foreground here. But this will not deter us from anything. We have already proven this many times – the second Karabakh war and the two years after the war have shown this. No-one can influence us. There may be calls, there may be some statements, but we don't need to pay attention to them. We answer these calls simply out of political courtesy, but this will not change our position in the slightest," President Ilham Aliyev said.