Ilham Aliyev: Azerbaijan needs to convey truth about Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

The main purpose of Azerbaijan's foreign policy today is to report the truth about the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to the world community, which will help to expose the propaganda lies spread by Yerevan, the Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said at the 4th Congress of World Azerbaijanis in Baku, the correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza reports.

Ilham Aliyev in his speech noted the Armenian government regularly lies and they have to refute its words on an ongoing basis. The latest example is the President Serzh Sargsyan' statement at the meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council on May 31 in Astana, when he lied about Azerbaijan gaining back some 800 hectares of territory, while the Azerbaijani side in fact regained control over some 2000 hectares.

Sargsyan's statements about the 'Karabakh army' controlling the situation on the frontline is also a lie, since there is no 'Karabakh army', only Armenian servicemen, President Aliyev said.

Azerbaijan's president further said that statements about Azerbaijan asking Russia to provide ceasefire regime is a complete lie, since it was Armenia who appealed to Russia.

Ilham Aliyev noted that Serzh Sargsyan with his lies could enter the Guinness Book of Records, and that will be an anti-record, Trend reports.

The President recalled the facts about the April battles for Karabakh, which Yerevan tends to hide or distort. On the night of April 2 all border and frontier positions of Azerbaijan were exposed to heavy artillery fire from the Armenian armed forces, Azerbaijani settlements near the front line, densely populated by civilians, were also shelled, there were killed and wounded people. Military operations were stopped on the line of contact at 12:00 on April 5 with the consent of the sides, but 370 Armenian soldiers have been already killed, 12 tanks, 12 armored vehicles and 15 artillery guns invaders have been destroyed. Ignoring the agreement, the Armenian side again started violating the ceasefire.

"Armenia does not want to resolve the conflict and do not want to change the status quo. Therefore, it resorts to armed provocations in the conflict zone, shells our settlements. They wanted to misquote the April events, but they failed to do it, they wanted to present these events as Armenia's victory, but we showed them our strength. At first, the Armenian leadership said that it has not suffer any losses as a result of armed clashes in the beginning of April, then they said that the lost territories are of no importance for them, then they said that these lands are important. In the end they said that Azerbaijan must return these territories. Such statements put them in an awkward position and now they look ridiculous," Ilham Aliyev stressed.

The president also pointed out that Karabakh, whatever may be said in Yerevan, is the Azerbaijani territory. "Karabakh is our historical territory and we should constantly prove it. Armenians were resettled to Karabakh in the 19th century from Eastern Anatolia and Iran. There is a monument erected in honor of the 150th anniversary of the resettlement of Armenians to Karabakh, but Armenians demolished it during the war. There are enough books, maps, historical and analytical works proving that the Nagorno-Karabakh belongs to Azerbaijan," he said.

The Azerbaijani Diaspora's work must play an important role in telling the truth about the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. "We must strengthen the work with foreign media in order to tell the world community the truth about Azerbaijan. In order to do this all the 462 Azerbaijani diaspora organizations should consolidate their efforts. We want you to live well, have good jobs and serve your country. We want all the Azerbaijanis to never lose ties with their historical homeland," Ilham Aliyev noted.

"We try to do that as a state. But much depends on the diaspora organizations as well," the president said, adding that its access to foreign media is very limited. 

"It is clear that the diaspora organizations of Armenia have been formed over decades. They have penetrated into the world's leading media structures by various means and are represented there. Armenians are seen behind the vast majority of the publications discrediting Azerbaijan, distorting the Azerbaijani realities and slandering us. We should even more improve our activities in this sphere," Ilham Aliyev noted.

First of all, there should be carried out work with media, according to the president.

The president noted that a layer of Azerbaijani journalists should be established, which would be represented in various media outlets. "They will defend their homeland and will convey the truth, because the 21st century is the century of information and currently, the information wars exist as a tool and as a weapon," he said.

Azerbaijan's president pointed out that currently, bloody clashes are taking place in various parts of the world. "How can we know while being in Baku, or in another city about what is happening there, who is right or who is wrong, who is on the offensive and who on defensive? We can know about this only through media outlets. If a coordinated dirty campaign is carried out against any country, the public opinion will eventually also follow the same path. Therefore, it is our weak spot. It is a priority,"  President Aliyev said.

The president noted that there should be held discussions on taking necessary measures in various countries in order to convey the Azerbaijani realities and a program should be worked out. "If the Azerbaijani state can in any form provide its support in this issue, we are ready. The main thing is that we should do it in a planned manner, and perhaps, it should be the primary issue in all countries where Azerbaijani diaspora organizations operate. Naturally, extensive information about the Azerbaijani realities should be presented to the international community," he added.

The two-day congress is being attended by more than 500 representatives of Azerbaijan from 49 countries, as well as other guests, including 50 prominent foreign politicians, public figures, scientists, high-ranking officials and MPs. Along with foreign guests, a delegation comprising 360 representatives of the Azerbaijani state and government organizations, non-governmental organizations, scientific, educational-cultural institutions and political parties joined the congress, APA reports.