BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 18. President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva had a conversation with the residents of the Talish village, Trend reports.
President Ilham Aliyev: I sincerely
congratulate you on the occasion of the upcoming holiday and your
return to the Talish village.
Residents: Thank you very much.
President Ilham Aliyev: We are back and we will
live here forever.
Female resident: Inshallah.
President Ilham Aliyev: This is the first stage of
the Talish village. Look how beautiful it is. All the buildings are
wonderful.
Residents: May Allah protect you, may Allah bless
you.
President Ilham Aliyev: Probably, after a year or
so, all the remaining 158 houses will also be built.
Residents: May Allah grant you a long life.
President Ilham Aliyev: More than a thousand
people will live here. Thousands of people will live here
afterwards.
Residents: Inshallah.
President Ilham Aliyev: We have returned to our
native lands by shedding blood and giving martyrs. May Allah rest
the souls of all our martyrs in peace.
Residents: Amen.
President Ilham Aliyev: We have come here at the
cost of their lives, and we have now brought you here as well. I
know you have been here for two days now.
Residents: Thank you very much.
President Ilham Aliyev: All issues related to
employment, to working in public and state jobs have been resolved.
Karabakh is a paradise.
Female resident: It is Azerbaijan!
President Ilham Aliyev: It is Azerbaijan!
Residents: Can we have our picture taken?
President Ilham Aliyev: Yes, let's do that.
Male resident: Thank you very much, may Allah
bless you. We are grateful to you for creating such conditions for
us. May Allah grant you a long life.
President Ilham Aliyev: Where did you live
before?
Male resident: We lived in the Barda district. Now
we are back to our own village. May Allah bless you.
Young girl: Mr. President, please allow me to
welcome you on behalf of the youth and other residents of the
Talish village.
President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you.
Young girl: I am doubly proud now because I am
standing here on our lands freed from occupation. And also I am
standing in front of you. I know we were all looking forward to
this day. Thank God we have experienced this day. The liberation of
the Talish village from occupation was of great importance. Thank
you very much. May Allah bless you. Please let me say another thing
– we are also grateful to you for the conditions you have created
for the young people.
President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you.
Residents: May Allah grant you a long life. There
is no limit to our joy, honestly. Can we have a picture taken with
you, Mr. President?
Another male resident: We are grateful to Allah
for granting you to us. May Allah grant you a long life.
President Ilham Aliyev: See how comfortable the
girl is in my arms?
Male resident: She isn’t as comfortable even in
her father’s arms.
Female resident: She is with her grandfather, her
grandfather. Thank you. Thank you very much.
Male resident: Mr. President, I want to inform you
that we are two brothers. We both fought for this village. Both of
us came to our village thanks to you. Our houses and yards are all
very beautiful indeed. Everything is done at a high level. Thank
you very much. We do appreciate that. May Allah rest the souls of
our martyrs in peace.
President Ilham Aliyev: Amen!
Male Resident: You have beaten them at the table.
We showed them everything on the battlefield. Thank you very much
for everything.
President Ilham Aliyev: Yes, thank you.
Residents: May Allah protect you. Thank you very
much. May Allah bless you.
Male Resident: My brother and I fought here.
President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you very much.
Male Resident: Thank you.
President Ilham Aliyev: This battle was very
important, as you know. It was a strategic location. After we had
liberated Talish, the Armenians saw that this was a serious
matter.
Male resident: Yes, thank you.
President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you.
Female resident: Please take a picture of us with
the President.
President Ilham Aliyev: Let's do that.
Male resident: Karabakh is Azerbaijan!
Female resident: My daughter also wanted to meet
you, but she is not here now. She could not come.
President Ilham Aliyev: Will she come here?
Female resident: She will.
President Ilham Aliyev: Will she live here?
Female resident: She will be our guest.
Male resident: May Allah bless you. You have
provided us with a house. Thank you very much.
President Ilham Aliyev addressing a child: Tell me
what you wanted to say.
Resident: He says let's congratulate our
grandfather on the holidays too.
President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you very much.
Residents: Thank you very much. May Allah bless
you.
President Ilham Aliyev: There were many mines
here, as you probably know.
Resident: Yes, after 44-day war, I work here in
the Community Mine Action Team of the International Eurasian Press
Foundation. There are mines there, and I take part in clearing
them.
First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva: Mr. President, please
take this beautiful girl.
President Ilham Aliyev: Come on here.
Resident: Thank you, Mr. President.
President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you. Thank you very
much.
Resident: You are welcome. We are grateful to you.
We are proud that you are here.
President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you.
Resident: May Allah grant you a long life and good
health for creating such conditions for us. Honestly, our joy is
truly boundless.
Female resident: Our lands have been freed, we are
grateful.
Resident: Yes, this is the main thing. May Allah
grant you a long life and good health. Inshallah, our President
will bring all the lands of Azerbaijan together. We believe in
that.
Another male resident: We are proud that we have
such a strong President. Karabakh is Azerbaijan! May Allah grant
you a long life and good health. This is just the beginning.
President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you.
Resident: Your sincerity is enough for anyone.
President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you.
Resident: Thank you very much, may Allah bless
you.
President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you very much, young
girl, thank you very much.
Resident: Always be there for us.
President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you very much.
Resident: Mr. President, may Allah bless you.
President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you. Let's all take
a picture together. And let’s all say “Karabakh is Azerbaijan!”
All in one voice: Karabakh is Azerbaijan!
Resident: There is a church here.
President Ilham Aliyev: Up there. Yes, I have been
there.
Resident: We have found a book there. I have read
it. It is about Ottoman Turks.
Another resident: It belongs to the Ottomans, not
to the Albanians. We were the first and last residents of this
place.
President Ilham Aliyev: There was a church and a
Russian church there. I went and looked last time I was here. It is
in a run down state.
Resident: There was one up there, but it belonged
to the Ottomans, because I brought a book from there and read it.
It belonged to the Ottoman Empire. That church belonged not to the
Albanians, but to the Ottomans.
President Ilham Aliyev: Now the location of a
mosque has been determined there. So a mosque will be built.
Resident: We were the first and last residents of
this place. It was very nice. I used to work as a viticulture
foreman here.
President Ilham Aliyev: Was it a collective farm
back then?
Resident: Yes, it was engaged in viticulture. I
used to teach people about viticulture here. But there is nothing
left now.
President Ilham Aliyev: Table grapes or technical
varieties?
Resident: Those were grapes for wine, very nice.
The area of vineyards was very large, 100 hectares. And there was a
beautiful apricot orchard.
President Ilham Aliyev: It is now necessary to
plant all of them now. There is a lot of land, there is water, and
the air is nice. The best conditions for agriculture are here
now.
Resident: Thank you very much. Indeed, the land is
also fertile.
President Ilham Aliyev: The soil is black
soil.
Resident: There were many springs here. A river
flowed here, but we were stunned that the river is not there any
more.
President Ilham Aliyev: They built canals and
ponds in some places in Karabakh, so they stopped the flow of
water. You will be discovering things little by little now.
Resident: There were some beautiful springs at the
bottom of the mountain over there.
President Ilham Aliyev: Are they still there
now?
Resident: These places are ideal for tourists
now.
President Ilham Aliyev: Drinking water?
Resident: Yes, there are springs and drinking
water there.
President Ilham Aliyev: A school has been built
here and children will go to that school. There is also a
kindergarten.
Resident: Thank you very much.
President Ilham Aliyev: Of course, a lot of work
has been done here. It was our duty to retake these lands and
rebuild them, and then bring you here.
Female residents: Thank you very much. We
appreciate that.
Male resident: From now on, we are not going
anywhere. Even if the world falls apart, we are not going
anywhere.
President Ilham Aliyev: No-one can displace you
from now on.
Resident: Your representatives are also very nice
and sincere. We are grateful to all of you. Very good. We are very
pleased with you. May Allah be pleased with you and our state.
President Ilham Aliyev: Thank God, life will be
very good here. You deserve even more. You have suffered for 30
years here and there, in dormitories and tents. Now you have such
wonderful conditions.
Resident: May Allah rest the souls of all our
martyrs in peace. You worked the hardest, Mr. President. The whole
world couldn't cope with you, thank God.
Another resident: The whole world couldn't do
anything. May Allah bless you.
President Ilham Aliyev: You stood behind me. This
is why we said that we would rather die than retreat. This is
it.
Resident: We are always behind you.
President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you very much. We
are on the eve of the holidays. We wish you lovely holidays.
Resident: Thank you very much. We are grateful to
you, Mr. President.
President Ilham Aliyev: Goodbye.
Residents: Goodbye.
