Ilham Aliyev: Baku must be vigilant as long as forces in Armenia live with hatred toward Azerbaijan

 As long as political forces in Armenian society continue to live with hatred toward Azerbaijan, Baku must remain vigilant, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said during his meeting with residents in the city of Zangilan.

"Mines, the poisoning of lands by the occupiers, and ecocide. Look at the Basitchay area—it was a world-famous nature reserve. It was regarded as the second-largest concentration of plane trees in the world and a sanctuary for ancient plane trees. The Armenian state destroyed nearly half of it. Some trees were burned, others were cut down and sold," Ilham Aliyev said.

In total, 60,000 hectares of our forest fund were destroyed by the savage occupiers, he recalled, adding that most of the destruction occurred in the Kalbajar and Lachin districts, but Zangilan also suffered.

According to him, it was looting, hostility, and cruelty - without any justification, because the Azerbaijani people caused no harm to the Armenian people.

"The reasons behind such hatred toward us should perhaps be studied by psychiatrists, psychologists, and doctors. As long as political forces in Armenian society continue to live with hatred toward Azerbaijan, we must remain vigilant," Ilham Aliyev said.

The head of state stressed that Azerbaijani people liberated their own lands from occupation through blood and sacrifice, noting that all Azerbaijani servicemen deserve the highest appreciation. 

"We demonstrated will, professionalism, high moral qualities, and dignity both on the battlefield and in the political arena. It is precisely because of this that respect for Azerbaijan today has perhaps increased tenfold compared to previous years," Ilham Aliyev said.

The head of state stressed that Azerbaijan had no intention of destroying Armenia or depriving it of its independence.

He recalled that Europe’s so-called observers are still supposedly monitoring the Azerbaijan-Armenia border.

"I said it then as well: if we fired a single shot, they would flee immediately, and not even a trace of them would remain there. Yet they portray themselves as if they are protecting Armenia from us. There is no need to protect Armenia from us. We have achieved what we set out to achieve," Ilham Aliyev said.