Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev told in an interview with Italian La Repubblica newspaper about Baku's approaches to the current hostilities in the zone of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and to a peaceful settlement.
"We have been waiting for the restoration of territorial integrity for almost 30 years. As you know, during all this time Azerbaijan was strictly committed to the negotiation process. But unfortunately, it did not result in any tangible outcome. Plus, Armenian leadership during the last couple of years was always provoking us by statements, and by actions, including military provocations. So the last one took place on the 27th of September. We had to respond and our response was very sensitive to Armenia. So, when we talk about the victory we did not put such a task before us. We wanted to resolve it at the negotiation table," he noted, adding that Azerbaijan was always ready to do it on the battlefield.
Ilham Aliyev also stressed that mediators must be neutral, "no matter how they feel about the situation, or how close their relations are with us, or with Armenia." "If they are not neutral they cannot be mediators. Therefore, neutrality now which we more or less see on the ground I think is the only way how things should be. We responded to the Armenian attack on the 27th of September without any 100% understanding who will do what. We just did what we thought was right to defend our country, to defend our people, and to restore justice," the Azerbaijani president noted.
The Azerbaijani leader also pointed out that Turkey provides political and moral support, to Azerbaijan. "It was sufficient, because such a strong country as Turkey when openly declares its position on this issue, it also sends the signal to the whole world, that Azerbaijan is doing the right thing. Azerbaijan is restoring it’s territorial integrity, Azerbaijan is fighting on its territory. We are not aggressors, we are not attacking other countries. Therefore, this political support which started in the early hours of the clashes and continues up to now is very important for the conflict resolution," he said, adding that they haven’t been provided with any evidence, any proof about Turkey sending Syrian jihadists to Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan does not need anyone's military assistance, while Armenia simply cannot fight alone."Many times I've said we have an army of 100,000 fighters, a regular army. We can mobilize several times more if we announce total mobilization. We have modern weapons. We have sophisticated technology. And we have a very high moral spirit. Therefore, there is no need for that. But unfortunately, what happens on the other side is being ignored. We already have enough evidences about foreigners fighting on Armenian side. They say they are native Armenians but first, it does not make any difference, because if foreign citizen is fighting against one country against another, it is a mercenary. Then, we do not have a 100% evidence that all of them are Armenians. We know that there are others. We know that PKK is there, we know that some terrorists from the Middle East joined the so-called “army of Nagorno-Karabakh'," Ilham Aliyev said.
"Plus, why Armenians are also exploiting this false statement, because for them probably it is very painful to admit that we beat them on the battlefield. For 30 years, they have been pretending that they have an unbeatable army. For 30 years they'be been saying they are on their own territories, which are in fact ours. We know that it was wrong, so, we proved who is who. We proved that their so-called “unbeatable army” is a myth. And for them to admit it, is very painful. But they have already admitted their defeat. Prime Minister Pashinyan sent a letter to President Putin asking for military assistance. This means admitting their military defeat and our victory," the Azerbaijani leader said.
"The first ceasefire was agreed upon in Moscow. In less than 24 hours they shot ballistic missiles on Ganja from the territory of Armenia. It is proven. Russia, France and United States and many other countries can detect the launch of ballistic missiles. So, they know, it was launched from Armenia, and Nikol Pashinyan was lying when he said that it was not Armenia. So, that was in less than 24 hours. The second ceasefire was violated by them five minutes after it was announced. And the third ceasefire they violated by attacking Barda. They needed a ceasefire in order to continue their aggression, in order to try to regain and re-occupy the territories which we have liberated. And also they wanted to create chaos, panic in Azerbaijan by attacking civilians but they miscalculated the spirit of the Azerbaijani people. Yes, we suffer from these mean attacks. We have 91 civilians so far killed, and more than 400 wounded. But this did not break our will, on the contrary, it makes us even stronger," he concluded.
Ilham Aliev also stressed that Pashinyan's statements about a "second genocide" are absolutely false. "There are thousands of Armenians living in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan is a multi-ethnic, multi-confessional country. Therefore, talking about the so-called 'genocide' is absolutely unacceptable and this is another fake which they want to present, as they always do. They always want to present themselves as the people who always suffering, always crying always needing help. And today look, he calls President Putin 5 times a day. He calls President Macron may be less, but still. He calls everyone. He calls European leaders. He asks for recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh not understanding that there is a unified position of the European Union on the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. Therefore, he tries to use every method in order to get some support. And as I said, and I am responsible for what I am saying, those Armenians who live in Nagorno-Karabakh can be sure that their security will be provided," the Azerbaijani president concluded.
