BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 24. We must not lose faith, then we will achieve what we want, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said on December 24 at a meeting with intellectuals from Western Azerbaijan, Trend reports.
"When the Karabakh lands were under occupation, a certain mood of pessimism had spread in the society over the years, primarily among the internally displaced persons. In other words, the manifestations of that were already visible. I have had dozens of meetings with displaced people and in recent years, I had been seeing that their hopes were running low, and this was natural. I thought it was quite natural. Of course, I could not tell them when, how and what would happen. I tried to convince them that the day would come. But it was natural, because 30 years of longing for the homeland inevitably have a negative impact on anyone. However, we have been living as a victorious nation for two years now. I want to say again today that the key thing is not to lose faith. We believed that we would return. I had not lost that faith for a single day. We must believe, work and be active to bring this holy day closer. Then we will achieve what we want.
During the years of occupation, I often thought that there was no justice in the world. I am sure that the absolute majority of the Azerbaijani people shared this view. Because it was hard to imagine such injustice. In other words, although we were right, it was completely incomprehensible that we were treated so unfairly. But confidence and faith in justice is in people's own hands. We have restored justice with our own strength, at the cost of the blood of our martyrs, thanks to the sacrifice of our ghazis, thanks to the unity of our entire people and our Army. We have restored justice and set an extraordinary example on a global scale. Today, our military operation is studied in the world's leading military schools. The determination, perseverance and unbending spirit of our people have become bywords.
During these more than two years since the second Karabakh war, I have had many meetings with my foreign colleagues, and I can say that most of them wondered how we made it happen, how we had achieved this Victory. And I told them in order to explain this, you should live our life, live these 30 years. How can I describe it? Confidence, unity, faith in justice, faith in strength! Therefore, as a people who have won this historic Victory, we have really created a completely new situation on a global scale. Those who lost their faith also believe now, they want to be like us, they want to act like us, they consult with us.
This is why I want to say again, while celebrating December 24 together with you, that we and Western Azerbaijanis should never lose faith. We have to believe and, at the same time, we have to take steps, we have to be active, we have to work hard. The day will come when we will have such a wonderful meeting in Western Azerbaijan and we will remember this day," President Ilham Aliyev said.