President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev: “The territorial integrity of our country is not, has not been, should not be and will not be the subject of negotiations. We must and will return to our native lands”

Had the great leader Heydar Aliyev not come to power for the second time on June 15, 1993, Azerbaijan’s existence as an independent state would still be in question. However, the coming to power of the national leader on that date gave the nation great confidence and pulled the government out of the quagmire. Today, the policy of state, army building and economic development, founded by the great leader Heydar Aliyev, is successfully continued by the President Mr. Ilham Aliyev. The nation believes that Azerbaijan’s domestic and foreign policy is in safe hands. We once again witnessed this during the recent attack on our lands with the provocation of the Armenian army in the direction of Tovuz region of the Azerbaijani-Armenian state border. On July 22, 2020, our military servicemen were killed and wounded as a result of the cowardly and sudden artillery attack of the Armenian army in the direction of Tovuz region to occupy our positions and a part of our lands. However, as a result of the revenge operation carried out by the Azerbaijani army in response, our martyrs were avenged, dozens of enemies and their equipment were destroyed. On July 15, 2020, thousands of people took to the streets to celebrate our military victory and support the state and the army. However, members of the Azerbaijani Popular Front tried to abuse it to create unrest. Anyone who committed these acts will not be able to escape the responsibility for it. A person who is loyal to their nation and Homeland cannot do such acts during the war. During the presentation of apartments and cars to the families of martyrs and war invalids in the Khatai district of Baku on July 22, 2020, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said in his speech: “These days there was a war as strong as ever. As our fair policy is based on international law and historical justice, our voice of truth was heard by the countries of the world and most international organizations. We have never had such support from foreign countries before. Neither in the early 1990s nor in any other period. Now we have seen very strong international support. The first support came from Turkey. The President, the Minister of Defence, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, members of the parliament of Turkey, and public figures unequivocally supported Azerbaijan. The Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States, which includes Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, unequivocally supported Azerbaijan. The Non-Aligned Movement, which includes 120 countries, and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which unites 57 countries, unequivocally supported us. Just as we are in solidarity with Muslim countries, we expect the same attitude from them. Especially on such sensitive days, when Armenia destroys, ruins and insults all places of worship belonging to the entire Muslim world. It wants to attack our lands, occupy our positions, killed our military servicemen and civilians, and destroyed our villages. The Armenian troops unexpectedly faced resistance from our army. After the Azerbaijani army struck a heavy blow to Armenia, they immediately fled to the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) for defence. They demanded that the CSTO make a statement condemning Azerbaijan. However, they did not succeed and no statement was made. Only a comment was made consisting of general words. 3 out of 6 CSTO members supported Azerbaijan through international organizations. Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, members of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States, as well as the CSTO, supported us through the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States. The Republic of Belarus is represented in the Non-Aligned Movement, which joined the statement of the Non-Aligned Movement and supported us. That means, three out of six countries unequivocally supported Azerbaijan”. All these issues show once again that today Azerbaijan has become a great power both internationally and domestically, as well as in the fight against its hated neighbour. We created it under the leadership of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev, the people of Azerbaijan created it. The people of Azerbaijan are fully confident that the independence, freedom of Azerbaijan, the well-being of the people and the strengthening of our country are always in the focus of the state. The number one national issue for our people is the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani-Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. As the head of state noted at that meeting: “We do not need an incomplete solution to the conflict. Because it will be temporary. The thing which is incomplete can be just a stage. However, the solution of the issue must be complete, the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan must be fully ensured. All occupied lands must be liberated without exception. Azerbaijani citizens must return to all occupied lands, including Shusha, Lachin and Khankendi. The territorial integrity of our country is not, has not been, should not be and will not be the subject of negotiations. We must and will return to our native lands”.