Along with the Azerbaijani army fighting on the front during the 44-day Patri-otic War, Supreme Commander-in-Chief Mr. Ilham Aliyev conveyed Azerbaijan’s rightful position to the world by fighting with determination and steadfastness in the information war. With his resolute approach as a victorious commander of the Patriotic War, he sent messages to the enemy, as well as to anti-Azerbaijani foreign forces, confident that all obstacles on the way to victory would be overcome and the goal would be achieved.

The speeches of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief were behind the morale given to the army and the people during the war.

During the 44-day war, Mr. President gave interviews to 26 media outlets from 11 countries. The content of these interviews was based on the principles of inter-national law, historical truth and political realities.

In his interviews, the head of state proved with indisputable evidence that the Azerbaijani side has demonstrated a peaceful stance for many years, and that the Armenian side has remained in a destructive position for years and exhausted the negotiation process. He also noted the illegal armament of Armenia, the presence of international terrorist hotbeds in Armenia and the occupied territories, the de-struction of cultural monuments of Azerbaijan’s historical heritage as a result of Armenian barbarism, illegal settlement in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan and sharply criticized the dual approach of the Western countries, especially the unfair and inadequate positions of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries who are responsible for the peaceful settlement of the conflict.

In his interviews, Mr. President clarified relations with neighboring and partner countries, and voiced views on the prospects for future international cooperation. The head of state clarified relations with brotherly Turkey which is our natural stra-tegic ally, the United States, which is our strategic ally, Russia and Iran, which are our close neighbors in the region, as well as our regional ally, neighboring Georgia.

In the information war the head of state exposed the pro-Armenian forces try-ing to confuse the international community, and managed to inform and convince the world community, drawing attention to the realities.

In his interviews with foreign media during the war, Supreme Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev informed the international community that Azerbaijan had been working constructively and diplomatically for many years to find a peaceful solution to the conflict. However, he stressed that the other side did not respond ad-equately to this peaceful approach. Over the years, Armenia has deepened this prob-lem by committing provocations against Azerbaijan on the frontline. The President touched upon this issue on September 29, 2020 while answering questions in the “60 MINUTES” program of “ROSSIYA-1” TV channel: “You know, Azerbaijan has always shown constructiveness on the negotiation track. And the Minsk Group co-chairs, who are responsible for the mediation mission, can confirm this. In particular, in the past two years, we have repeatedly stated, both myself and other officials, that we are committed to the resolution principles devel-oped over the years and which the Minsk Group and its co-chairs consider the basis for the negotiating process. Moreover, we have repeatedly stated in the past two years, and before that, we are committed to the negotiation format.”

After the recent coup d’etat in Armenia, the processes revealed more clearly that the negotiation process, which had not yielded positive results for years, was over. With various statements and speeches, the new government demonstrated de-structiveness, causing the conflict to escalate into a phase of war. In recent years, especially during Pashinyan’s rule, the opposite side has been provoking the war. The head of state expressed this situation in an interview with “ROSSIYA-1” TV channel: “Still, look at what has been happening in recent years after the So-ros coup carried out by the current government in Armenia? The Armenian prime minister publicly declares that Karabakh is Armenia, full stop. In this case, what negotiations can we talk about? And then he says that Karabakh is Armenia and that we have to negotiate with the so-called puppet regime of Nagorno-Karabakh.”

As in previous interviews, in an interview with “ROSSIYA-1” TV channel, Mr. President said that there were only two sides of the Karabakh conflict, which has lasted for more than 30 years, and that the problem between the aggressor Ar-menia and Azerbaijan, whose territorial integrity has been violated, is acute today. Mr. President told a Russian TV channel: “Negotiations are underway between

Armenia and Azerbaijan. There are only two sides to the conflict. Sometimes, when talking about the conflict, there is a mention of all sides. It is an errone-ous definition - not all sides. There are only two sides – Armenia and Azerbai-jan.”

Pashinyan, who came to power through a revolution, announced that “Karabakh is Armenia” and that Armenia’s aggressive policy will continue. Supreme Com-mander-in-Chief Mr. Ilham Aliyev stated in an interview with “CNN-TURK” TV channel on October 7, 2020 that this aggressive statement “radically undermined” the negotiation process: “In addition, recently, the military-political leadership of Armenia, both with aggressive actions and aggressive statements, disrupted the process of negotiations. In other words, it dealt a crushing blow to the talks. To say that “Karabakh is Armenia” essentially means an end to the negotia-tions.”

In his interviews, Mr. President exposed with irrefutable evidence that the Ar-menian side was preparing for war against Azerbaijan and planned to occupy new lands. A few days before the start of the war, we witnessed the head of state an-nouncing these realities to the world from the international rostrum - the UN ros-trum. Speaking in a video conference during the general debates of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly on September 24, Mr. Ilham Aliyev condemned the occupation of Azerbaijan’s sovereign lands by Armenia, the vandalism of ethnic cleansing against our people, the illegal settlement by Armenians in violation of international conventions, the Armenian side’s provocative actions on the front-line and especially outside the line of contact, Armenia’s open provocations against Azerbaijan, the deployment of terrorist groups in the occupied territories, attempts to involve third parties in the conflict and Armenia’s militaristic preparations for a new war in the region.

Mr. President said this in an interview with Russia’s RBK television: “More-over, we were expecting this attack. I spoke about this from the UN platform a few days before the escalation. You can see the text of my speech – I said that Armenia is preparing for war. Armenia must be stopped. There were many arguments in favor of that. First of all, the Armenian defense minister’s state-ment he made in America last year when he said that Armenia was prepar-ing for a new war for new territories. Then, Pashinyan’s comments such as “Karabakh is Armenia” and so on. Further provocative actions in the form of Armenians’ demonstrative settlement from Lebanon to Shusha, which is a war crime. Moreover, the Azerbaijani people’s insult by holding the so-called “swearing-in” ceremony in Shusha – in fact, for the first time in the entire ex-istence of the occupation regime there. An attempt to move the parliament of the so-called “Nagorno-Karabakh republic” from Khankandi to Shusha, and much more. All this was a provocation against us. Then came July. An unpro-voked attack on military positions.”

Supreme Commander-in-Chief later voiced these views in an interview with Russia’s “ROSSIYA-1” TV channel: “Speaking at the UN General Assembly, I openly said that Armenia was preparing for war, and it must be stopped. In July, they launched an armed attack on our settlements along the state border. It is far away from the conflict zone. One civilian and several servicemen were killed then. The clashes lasted four days. Since we did not have and still do not have any military targets across Armenia, as soon as the Armenian armed forces were driven back from our territory, the fire was ceased by mutual agreement. Then, as I said, a subversion group infiltrated our territory and was neutralized. Then the Armenian side publicly and defiantly announced the resettlement of Armenians from Lebanon to the occupied territories and to our ancient Azerbaijani city of Shusha, which amounts to a war crime. It is a vio-lation of the Geneva Convention. It is done demonstratively. Before that, they held the so-called swearing-in ceremony for the so-called leader of the criminal Nagorno-Karabakh regime in Shusha, an ancient pearl of Azerbaijani culture. All these are deliberate provocations against us, attempts to drag us into con-flict and provoke retaliatory actions.”

In every interview, Supreme Commander-in-Chief fully stated that the opera-tions of the Azerbaijani army on the frontline were carried out in full compliance with the international legal system. He stated this rightful position of Azerbaijan in an interview with German ARD television on October 31, 2021: “International law and the whole international community recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as an integral part of Azerbaijan. And we are restoring justice and we are im-plementing the UN Security Council resolutions which were on paper for 27 years.”

During that interview the to German reporter’s question “When we were there in this area, among us the question came up. Why actually is Karabakh so important for Azerbaijan? I mean, is there a kind of resource or is it just sym-bolic?” Prezident replied: “Alsace and Lorraine, is it important for you? Ba-varia, is it important for you? Or Rhine-Westphalia? It is our land, our terri-tory, internationally recognized. It is not a matter of resources. We have main resources here in Baku. It is a matter of justice, it is a matter of national pride and it is a matter of international law.” With this the head of state proved how high the moral values of the Azerbaijani people are.

In an interview with the Italian La Repubblica newspaper, Mr. President said that our people have national honor and dignity, and the heroic spirit of our people has never faded throughout history. He stressed that our people have shown an example of perseverance and steadfastness in the chaotic and panic actions of Ar-menians against the Azerbaijani civilian population. The head of state said this in an interview with an Italian newspaper: “By attacking civilians, they wanted to create chaos and panic in Azerbaijan, as well. However, they could not calcu-late the spirit of the Azerbaijani people correctly.”

In his interviews, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief brought to the attention of the international community the fact that the enemy fired on civilian objects and settlements outside the military operation zone with prohibited weapons. He called ridiculous the denial of such facts by Armenian officials as a white lie, and stressed that it was unfortunate for the civilized world that these indisputable facts were sometimes ignored by Western circles. In particular, he criticized the unilat-eral actions of international NGOs, which from time to time were biased against Azerbaijan.

In an interview with EFE News Agency on November 5, 2020, President Ilham Aliyev brought the Armenian barbarism to the attention of the international com-munity: “They launched ballistic missiles from Armenian territory to Ganja, and it is proved. Though Armenian prime minister said it was not them, but it is ridiculous. Because ballistic missile launch is being monitored by the satel-lites. Everybody knows from where it was launched and what was the goal of that missile. It was deliberately hitting the civilian compounds in Ganja, two times. They hit Barda two times with very destructive “Smerch” missiles. 21 persons were killed and 70 wounded only by one attack. There have been many attacks. They attacked a funeral ceremony in Tartar. That is absolutely beyond any norms of human behavior. When people were burying the person who died they hit the cemetery and four people were killed. And the cluster bombs which they used have been verified by international media and NGOs.”

In an interview with FOX NEWS, the head of state expressed confidence that the civilian objects and the population of the opposite side were never targeted during the military operations, noting that the Azerbaijani side is experiencing it intensively: “We do not attack civilians. After Armenian brutal attack, an act of terror against the city of Ganja with ballistic missiles where dozens of people have been killed, we publicly said that we will take revenge but on the battle-field. We do not attack civilians; we do not attack religious sights. What hap-pened to the church in Shusha was either a mistake, and I already publicly commented on that, or it was done by Armenians themselves in order to put a blame on us.”

In his speeches, the head of state stressed that the enemy aimed to provoke the opposite side by treacherously firing on civilian objects and houses outside the war zone from the territory of Armenia. He told HABER TURK: “The reason for this treacherous attack by Armenia is that they are trying to expand the geography of this conflict and involve the Collective Security Treaty Orga-nization of which they are a member. This is why they bombard Azerbaijani lands, civilians and provoke us to retaliate. But as I said, our revenge would be on the battlefield. We never take any action against civilians. All our goals are military.” 

In this interview, the President openly criticized the wartime activities of Am-nesty International and Human Rights Watch, which were biased against Azerbai-jan: “I am sure that it was the international media that first reported about it.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch had no choice but to confirm the allegations. But the question is why they did not come to Azerbaijan in the first place? Why did they work only for Armenia? Only after the international media and Western media showed the cluster bombs used by Armenians did these two NGOs confirm this. It’s good that they’re confirming it, but to be honest, I can’t imagine how they wouldn’t approve of it, given that it’s obvi-ous.”

In an interview, the President of Azerbaijan openly criticized the ineffective work of the Minsk Group, which has been responsible for resolving the conflict for years, and the double standards of international forces and the UN on the principles of international law. In this regard, on October 2, 2020, in an interview with “Al-Jazeera” TV channel, he expressed his critical position: “Minsk Group which was created in order to facilitate, to find the solution, already is in activity for 28 years, and also without any results. Therefore, the main reason is they said the position of Armenia, the second reason is that lack of insistence from the side of the mediators and lack of pressure on Armenia to start demanding resolu-tions of the United Nations Security Council. On many occasions, I raised this issue and was saying that international sanctions must be imposed on Armenia to force them to comply with resolutions and to start liberation of our territo-ries.”

In that interview, the head of state saw the reason for the protracted conflict in the non-implementation of UN resolutions: “But there is not enough practi-cal pressure on aggressor and here we see the contradiction between inter-national law, and what is happening in reality. So, such an open ignorance of the norms and principles of international law by Armenia, should be a good indicator that international law doesn’t work, or it works selectively. In some cases, as you know, Security Council resolutions are being imple-mented within days, if not hours, but in our case it is on paper for so many years. So, lack of practical pressure on aggressor is also one of the reasons the conflict lasts so long.”

Mr. President criticized the indifference of international organizations to the policy of settlement in the Azerbaijani lands illegally occupied by Armenians: “Un-fortunately, no one - the Minsk Group, the European Union or the UN - has reacted. They did not react to the destruction of Azerbaijan’s historical heri-tage, the destruction of our cultural, historical and religious monuments, the change of toponyms, the change of administrative boundaries of our regions, the renaming of our mountains, rivers and cities.”

The phrase “Our work will be incomplete without Susha” used by the Presi-dent in an interview with the Turkish “A HABER” channel during the Patriotic War defined Azerbaijan’s resolute position and goals in this war. This expression was a moral blow to the enemy, the best news given to the Azerbaijani people.To the Turkish journalist’s question “The heart of Karabakh, the apple of its eye is

Shusha. The Azerbaijani people are waiting for news about Shusha. Inshallah, are you heading for Shusha?” the Supreme Commander-in-Chief gave the per-fect answer: “We are headed for all the territories. Every inch of the occupied lands, every city is dear to us, it is native for us. For me, all villages and cities are equally valuable. But you know very well that Shusha occupies a special place in the hearts of the Azerbaijani people. This is our historic city, a hotbed of ancient culture. Shusha gave the Azerbaijani people many very talented and outstanding personalities. Of course, without Shusha our mission will be half done. Naturally, this issue has always been on the agenda in the course of discussions. However, my position has always been that without Shusha our mission would be half done. Therefore, of course, the liberation of Shusha oc-cupies a special place among our goals.”

In his wartime interviews with foreign media, President Ilham Aliyev proved the Turkish-Azerbaijani brotherhood and mutual cooperation based on natural in-terests with his consistent views. Through interviews, he defined the future ho-rizons of Turkish-Azerbaijani natural-strategic cooperation. Sometimes, he once again showed a fanatical position as a defender of the Turkish-Azerbaijani natural alliance, giving appropriate and logical answers to provocative questions of a for-eign media representative trying to portray Turkey’s negative image in the war.

On September 29, 2020, on Russia’s “ROSSIYA-1” TV channel’s program Mr. President replied to a reporter’s question about Turkey’s role in the war: “I believe that Turkey is playing a stabilizing role in the region. Turkey is our brotherly country and our ally. From the very first hour, once the international commu-nity learned that Armenia attacked Azerbaijan, Turkey spoke out unequivo-cally at the level of the head of state and other leaders in support of Azerbai-jan, in support of international law..... All the rumors that Turkey is involved

as a party to the conflict, circulated by the Armenian side, are provocative. As they say now, this is fake news. There is no evidence of Turkey’s involvement in the conflict and nor is that necessary.”

On October 14, 2020, the head of state responded to a question from a corre-spondent of the FRANCE 24 TV channel about Turkey’s direct participation in the war: “Turkey’s military presence is another fake news. Turkey has no military presence. We use Turkish-made military equipment, which is true ... With the exception of the political sphere, Turkey is not involved in the process at all. ” In an interview with CNN INTERNATIONAL’s “CONNECT THE WORLD” program, the President gave a more concise and decisive answer: “Yes, there is

Turkish equipment. There are no Turkish forces.”

In an interview with the Turkish A Haber TV channel, he said: “The false information fabricated by the Prime Minister of Armenia today is, of course, aimed at confusing the international community ... The support we receive from Turkey, Pakistan and other fraternal countries is only moral and political support.”

In an interview with the Turkish TRT HABER TV channel on October 5, 2020, the head of state, referring to the Turkish-Azerbaijani friendship, said that:

“Our brotherhood is eternal, and our brotherhood has stood the test of time. You know that the relations between Turkey and Azerbaijan are an exam-ple for the whole world.... there are no other countries in the world as close

to each other as Turkey and Azerbaijan, and these are not empty words. These are heartfelt sentiments. Our unity is based on our history, our com-mon ethnic roots, language, religion and brotherhood. The historic service of my dear brother Tayyib bey and myself is that we have created a modern Turkish-Azerbaijani union on a very solid foundation. Turkish flags have been present everywhere already in Azerbaijan, and Azerbaijani flags are everywhere in Turkey. We are not separate from each other. We are together. These events have once again shown that Turkey was the first to support us unequivocally and decisively. The President of Turkey’s very bold and reso-lute statements were a warning to many countries – stay away, do not inter-fere, Azerbaijan is not alone, Turkey is next to it, and Azerbaijan is always with Turkey! We support each other in all matters, across all platforms, and our unity must last forever.”

To the question of the CNN Turk TV channel’s correspondent on “Wherever we were, in Baku or cities in the conflict zone, in Tartar, we saw the flags of Turkey everywhere next to the flags of Azerbaijan. What would you like to say about this?” the prezident replied: “In fact, it has always been this way, because Turkey is not only an ally and the closest country for us. Turkey is a fraternal country for us, just like Azerbaijan is for Turkey. The flag of Turkey is a native flag for us, as native as the flag of Azerbaijan.” This answer was an-other acknowledgment of victorious Supreme Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev’s love for the brotherly country.

In an interview with the Turkish Haber Turk TV channel on October 13, an-swering questions about the full settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the head of state touched upon the issue of Turkey’s place and role here and expressed his firm and principled position: “This issue cannot be resolved without Turkey’s participation here. Everyone should understand that.” He reiterated in the same interview, “Who can say that Turkey is not in the process. If there is no Turkey, why are you talking? There is Turkey. We will do our best to continue. Because this issue cannot be resolved without Turkey’s participation here. Everyone should understand that.” He also said that the Turkish-Azerbaijani unity brings stability and peace to the region ... Today, Turkey plays a very important sta-bilizing role in the region and in the new geography.”

In an interview with Turkish NTV television on 15 October, Mr. President reit-erated his firm position on Turkey’s future participation in the post-war peacekeep-ing mission by saying that, “Our position is that Turkey must be. What status it will have is a technical issue. Turkey is de facto here... Turkey must play an active role in this, and I am sure it will.” In that interview, our Supreme Com-mander-in-Chief praised Turkish-Azerbaijani cooperation as a great asset and said:

“Turkish-Azerbaijani cooperation is so strong, so wide that we are next to each other at any time. Whether we have a military base or not, we trust Turkey, and Turkey trusts us ... For Turkey, Azerbaijan,and for Azerbaijan, Turkey is the number one ally. This is a great asset.”

In an interview with Russia’s RBK television channel on October 10, President Ilham Aliyev once again touched on the position of brotherly Turkey and expressed this role openly and decisively: “The active and very clear position of the Turk-ish leadership, personally of the President and other officials during the es-calation, in fact, prevented the intervention of third countries in this conflict. Turkey’s role is only positive, and it should play a greater role in our region, including in resolving the conflict.”

In an interview with BBC NEWS on 9 November during the war, to the ques-tion of journalist, “We have seen that Armenia has already gone to Russia, and said ‘what are you prepared to do?’ Do you see a day when you would be asking Turkey to become more involved?” we witnessed the sharp principled answer of the country’s leader: “I don’t want to look to far ahead, because it will depend on the situation on the battlefield. It will depend on Armenia’s behav-ior, and on other countries’ behavior. Because on many occasions I said that we are against internationalization of the conflict, we asked all the countries, neighboring countries, and not neighboring countries to stay away from this conflict. We are fighting on our land, internationally recognized. So, this is our position. And I think that what is happening now will continue. So there will be no need for any kind of military involvement of Turkey. But, with Turkey, many years ago, we signed the document which provides also military support in case of aggression. So, with Turkey we have more or less the same format le-gal basis like Armenia and Russia has. So, if Azerbaijan will face an aggression and if Azerbaijan will see that the Turkish military support is needed, then we will consider this option.”

In the interviews, the head of state expressed Azerbaijan’s wise political posi-tion, touching on the prospects of cooperation with neighboring and partner coun-tries both during the war and in the post-war period. In addition to sending a mes-sage of gratitude to the countries that supported Azerbaijan’s just position in this war, he openly condemned the countries and forces that unjustly defended Armenia or indirectly supported the enemy front, based on a unilateral position without com-promising on justice.

In his interview during the war, against the statements of French President Em-manuel Macron that “Azerbaijan together with Turkey brought terrorists to the re-gion” and “Azerbaijan wants to conquer Nagorno-Karabakh and we will not allow it” Mr. Ilham Aliyev reaffirmed his position and reiterated Azerbaijan’s just posi-tion to the world community.

In an interview with TRT HABER on October 5, 2020, the President said in re-sponse to this absurd statement of the French President that “Nagorno-Karabakh is our land. Can a state conquer its own lands? In other words, doesn’t the co-chair country know that the Armenians have illegally settled in these lands and destroyed all our historical sites, mosques, graves and razed our houses to the ground? Look at the images of Aghdam and Fuzuli. They keep pigs and cows in our half-destroyed mosques. This is an insult to all Muslims. Don’t they see it? Therefore, the words “Azerbaijan wants to conquer Nagorno-Karabakh and we will not allow that” are unacceptable. This is why France is already excluding itself from this equal trio, and we cannot remain silent about it.”

The head of state’s response to the Turkish reporter’s statement “You invited French President Macron to apologize” was even bolder: “Yes, of course, be-cause he accused us. He threw things at us that weren’t true. This is unaccept-able for our country.”

Criticizing the unfair support of the French government to the Armenian side, in an interview with CNN INTERNATIONAL on CONNECT THE WORLD pro-gram, the head of state stated the indisputable facts: “For example, the French

Foreign Minister is not worried about Russia’s support for Armenia by giv-ing it free weapons, and he does not think that this will turn the conflict into an international conflict. However, this is worrying when Turkey expresses its legitimate, political support.”

The President categorically denied that mercenaries and terrorists were fighting on the Azerbaijani side, saying it was nonsense. In an interview with Russia’s TASS news agency, he denied all these biased and baseless allegations, saying “when it comes to terrorists, these are all baseless words.” In an interview with the Turk-ish Haber Turk TV channel, he revealed the following evidence of the involvement of terrorists and mercenaries: “Besides, as for the participation of foreign citi-zens, let them look at Armenia and see how many terrorists there are there. There are RKK camps there. They also exist in Nagorno-Karabakh. After the liberation of this region from the invaders, we will destroy these camps too. So many foreigners are taking part in these battles against us today. The ter-rorists killed there have passports of Canada and Lebanon. Whether they are of Armenian origin or not is another matter. A citizen of another country has come here and is fighting against us. They are mercenaries.”

On October 26, the head of state again openly answered the question of the correspondent of the Italian RAI-1 TV channel against these baseless allegations:

“First, such unfounded accusations were brought against us by only two countries – France and Russia. France said that through the President, Rus-sia through the head of the Foreign Intelligence Service. These charges were brought against us immediately after the outbreak of hostilities. Although al-most a month has already passed, not a single piece of evidence, no proof was provided to us. In fact, I will say this for the first time – I asked the French side for the heads of relevant agencies to meet, discuss the issue and provide us with evidence. Nothing was presented to us. Therefore, these are all insinu-ations. All this is an attempt to cast a shadow on Azerbaijan. I regret that such unfounded accusations come from the co-chair countries, which are supposed to be objective.”

Also, during this interview, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief voiced com-pelling facts against the allegations made by some Russian authorities, as well as the French President against Azerbaijan about the involvement of mercenaries and the Turkish military in this war: “We do not talk about the fact that Armenia would not have lasted a day in the occupied territories without external as-sistance. Political support, military support, moral support – all this comes from countries that are supposed to stay neutral. Therefore, we strongly reject these insinuations. It is not necessary. We have 100,000 soldiers of the regular army. If necessary, we will announce overall mobilization, which, by the way, we have not done unlike Armenia. Therefore, this is all lies and slander. As for the participation of Turkish troops in operations, this is also a lie. There is not a single piece of evidence. The fact that Turkish F-16s are on the territory of Azerbaijan was a result of our joint military exercises on the eve of the conflict. We do not talk about how many Russian MIG-29s and Su-30s are on the ter-ritory of Armenia. We do not talk about the fact that 5,000 Russian troops are located at the base in Armenia in Gumru and, according to our data, there are periodical supplies of the Armenian armed forces from there. These are facts, in contrast to what is being said about us. Therefore, I suggest that those who want to accuse us first deal with themselves and then make such hasty conclu-sions based on false information.”

On November 5, to the question of the correspondent of the Spanish EFE news agency who asked, “Russia, Mr. Lavrov said yesterday there are nearly 2000 mercenaries battling or combatting in Nagorno-Karabakh. What do you say regarding this? ” we witnessed the President’s bold and fluent answer: “I an-swered many times to this groundless accusations, and I frankly speaking, regret that high-ranking officials of countries which supposed to be neutral, which supposed to be acting within their mandate which was given to them by OSCE, use this unverified, groundless so-called information and rumors, first. Second, we don’t have any mercenaries. We have evidence. During these 40 days, we have provided Russian officials with information on the amount of weapons supplied to Armenia. Why doesn’t anyone talk about it? Let’s talk about it, let’s be fair.”

In an October 19 interview with Russia’s TASS news agency, the president openly sent a message to both the opposite side and the international community about who and from where illegally and intensively weapons were sent to Arme-nia during the war. During the interview, he expressed great regret that such cases were sent by the parties involved in the peaceful settlement of the conflict for many years. Mr. President made this clear with the statement: “Not a single country is involved in the conflict on our side. There are no terrorists on our side. As for the opposite side, the Armenian side, we have conveyed to the Russian side our concerns that during the active phase of the confrontation a huge amount of weapons has been transferred from Russian cities to the territory of Armenia. We have data, we have flight maps, we have the listing of weapons. All this was brought to the attention of the Russian side. This, of course, raises a lot of questions and bewilderment in our society. Therefore, the situation is like this. If necessary, we can also publish the list of supplies Armenia has received from Russia during this time, specify what transport vehicles were used to deliver them, and which airlines delivered them. These were mostly illegal supplies.”

 “We have officially applied to ICAO. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan has appealed to ICAO. We have provided information about the transport vessels of certain companies. In fact, there have also been media reports that lethal weapons are being delivered to Armenia under the guise of humanitarian cargo and cargo of the Ministry of Emergency Situations.”

“Since both Georgia and Iran have closed their airspace for military cargo, such smuggling methods are used. We suggested to the Russian side that this was being done by means of smuggling because it is hard for us to believe that Russia, a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group and a country that must main-tain neutrality, just like France and the United States, is arming the Armenian side during the active phase of the conflict. According to our information, large Russian entrepreneurs of Armenian origin are involved in this scheme. Well-known arms dealers who are under international sanctions are also involved. Our appeal to the Russian side was, among other things, aimed at sorting out this issue. Because if Russian weapons are smuggled and paid for in cash, then we need to figure out how this can be possible. These are the concerns we have, and our concerns are based on facts.” He also called on the civilized world to intensify joint efforts to combat international arms smuggling.

In his interviews, Supreme Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev expressed his gratitude to neighboring and partner countries for providing political support to Azerbaijan during the war and identified prospects for future cooperation in inter-state relations.

Asked by a TRT HABER reporter about Pakistan’s and Russia’s stance on the war, the President said: “I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to all other friendly and brotherly countries. After Turkey, the sec-ond country that supported us was Pakistan, then Afghanistan, and then sev-eral other countries. I thank each of them, the presidents of those countries. In this difficult period, of course, their solidarity and support is very important for us and gives us moral strength.” In response to a question about the Russian state, he said that: “Russia is our neighbor. Our relations with Russia are devel-oping successfully. Today, the relations between Russia and Azerbaijan are at a very high level in many areas. Both countries view this relationship as a stra-tegic partnership, which is confirmed by the joint agreements. Russia acts as a very responsible and large country. Positive messages are coming from Russia, and support for any party is not a topic of discussion.”

He also exposed Armenia’s intention to involve Russia in the conflict by com-mitting provocative actions both before and during the war, and stated unequivo-cally that these intentions of Armenia will never come true. In an interview with TRT HABER, he said: “Armenia had high hopes for that. Armenia’s goal in taking the conflict out of the region is to engage Russia. Why is Armenia cur-rently attacking Azerbaijan from the territory of Armenia? Exactly to make us strike back, so that they could appeal to the general secretariat of the Col-lective Security Treaty Organization, of which they are a member together with Russia and other countries, and say that Azerbaijan is attacking us, come and help us. Why did they commit this provocation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border in July? Tovuz is located far from the Karabakh region. What goals did they have there – one goal was to make us launch an attack, cross the state border – as I said, we had such an opportunity – and then to ask the organization to come and fight with us against Azerbaijan. In other words, they want to involve Russia in this. This is yet another provocation, and I am sure it will not succeed.”

In his interviews, Mr. President sometimes exposed and sharply criticized pro-Armenian circles. Along with the French government, which mainly supported Ar-menia’s policy of aggression, he openly and boldly condemned Russia, especially the forces from Russia that supported the enemy in various ways, and some circles of power. He noted that the end of the conflict, which has been unresolved for years, depends on Russia’s political will.

In particular, he expressed such courageous views in an interview with Russia’s RBK television channel: “Russian leadership should engage the levers of politi-cal influence on Armenia and urge the Armenian side to end the occupation....

It is no secret that Armenia fully depends on Russia today. Security is provided by Russia, free weapons are provided by Russia. We have destroyed Armenian hardware probably worth billions of dollars. Right now, in a matter of two weeks. Where did they get this money? They don’t have it. These are all free deliveries from Russia. Gas supply at preferential prices from Russia, electric-ity to some extent too. Railways, communications, a military base. Even the Armenian border with Turkey and Iran is guarded by Russian border troops. If it wasn’t for this, it would be empty. What other country has so many levers to influence Armenia? None! And there are probably no other two countries in the world, one of which would be so completely dependent on the other. Therefore, of course, I am convinced that if there is insistence on the part of Russia, given that we have changed the status quo, broken the line of contact and brought Yerevan to its senses, I think that Russia certainly has a lot of tools to quickly convince Armenia that the only way out of the situation – and not only in terms of military confrontation but also for the future of Armenia in general – is to find a solution together with Azerbaijan.” 

In response to russian journalist’s question “When I walked around Baku, I saw a lot of Azerbaijani flags and slightly fewer but still quite many Turkish flags, but I did not see a single Russian flag. Does this mean that Russia’s influ-ence in Azerbaijan has decreased or has the attitude of people in Azerbaijan changed towards Russia?” based on a logical and objective approach, the head of state said: “When the Azerbaijani people are insulted, when the President of Azerbaijan is insulted on leading Russian channels, this, of course, does not add credibility to Russia. I brought this issue to the attention of the Russian leadership. Not in terms of the fact that we are concerned about it – the Azer-baijani society and public opinion are formed within Azerbaijan. But in terms of the fact that this may someday lead to certain difficulties in our plans..... But

the information attack we encountered in the Russian media during this time, of course, caused great harm to the public perception of Russia. I think it will take time and effort for the leadership of both sides to correct this situation.” In an interview with RBK, Mr. President made bold statements urging Russia to refrain from supporting the enemy in this conflict: “When Pashinyan presented  us with seven ultimatums, he should have been punished for insulting the feel-ings of Azerbaijanis, and we did it. Let him thank Putin that Russia has come to save Armenia once again.”

In response to the question of Al Jazeera television channel’s correspondent

“Is Russian mediation acceptable for Azerbaijan in this political stalemate? the President clarified Russia’s role in resolving the conflict, as well as conveyed a message to the other side by saying “If you are a mediator, you must be neutral, you must be a mediator.”

As I mentioned, the President not only commented on the attitudes and actions of countries such as Turkey, Russia and France, which were sensitive during the war, but also clarified the positions of global powers such as the United States and neighboring Iran and Georgia.

In an interview with CNN-Turk, he expressed Iran’s attitude to the conflict as follows: “Iranian officials supported Azerbaijan’s just cause. A couple of days ago, Iranian officials said that the occupation must end, Azerbaijan’s territo-rial integrity must be restored, and our refugees must return to their lands.”

In response to the French Le Figaro newspaper reporter’s question “How is your relationship currently with Georgia, who is another Christian nation in the Caucasus region?” the President clarified it as follows: “Yes, with Georgia our relations are excellent. We call each other strategic partners.... And we

have a trilateral format of cooperation between Turkey, Georgia and Azer-baijan.... Therefore, relations are excellent. And I think it could be a good example, like our relations with Turkey, our relations with Georgia are good examples of good neighborhood. By the way, the fact that Georgia is Christian and Azerbaijan is Muslim does not make any difference. We do not look at this region from this point of view.”

In an interview with FOX NEWS, the head of state expressed a more detailed attitude to relations with the United States: “Azerbaijan has always been a true partner of the United States. We are together in the fight against international terrorism, we are together in Afghanistan, we keep our troops in Afghanistan, and thus we contribute to peacekeeping operations. There is an important issue on our agenda, such as energy security. The United States has always supported Azerbaijan’s efforts to diversify its energy supply routes. With the strong support of the United States, we have been able to complete important projects… Azerbaijan and the United States have a very strong partnership. The United States considers Azerbaijan a friend, and we are truly friends. That is why it is in the interest of the United States to have peace here.”

In an interview with RBK, Mr. President said that among the many provoca-tions committed by the Armenian side in the escalation of the conflict to the level of war, citing the facts of illegal settlement in the occupied territories: “Illegal settle-ment. This is an international crime, a violation of the Geneva Conventions.” Asked by a U.S. FOX NEWS correspondent about Azerbaijan’s failure in the battles with the Armenian side in the early 1990s, Mr. President said, “We were not defeated in the war. We lost the battle. This was due to objective reasons. First, there was internal instability in Azerbaijan, and Armenia took advantage of

it.” This answer was based on a more complete and accurate logic.

One of the highlights of Mr. President’s interviews was the fact-based princi-pled position against the Armenian side’s most voiced claims of self-determination of the peoples during this conflict. The head of state said the following in an inter-view with Al Jazeera: “if we go back to UN Charter, if we go back to Helsinki

Final Act, we will see that the self-determination should not damage the ter-ritorial integrity of the countries. And other important point, the territorial integrity of the country cannot be changed by force, and cannot be changed without an agreement of the people of the country. Therefore, in the case of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict of course, self-determination is not working the way how Armenians want to do it. And another argument, Armenian people already self-determined themselves. They have independent Armenian state. Today Armenians live everywhere. They live in France, they live in America, they live in Russia, they live in Middle East, let them ask for self-determination in those countries. Those countries which want to give self-determination to Nagorno-Karabakh, let them give part of their land to Armenians from Nago-rno-Karabakh, take them and give self-determination there. I would see what will be their reaction.”

In response to Japanese Nikkei newspaper reporter’s question “After the re-turn of Nagorno-Karabakh, will you respect their right to self-determination, as stated in the Madrid Principles, and will you agree to a referendum?” the answer of the president was more decisive: “No, of course not. There will be no referendum in Nagorno-Karabakh. We will never agree to this. We did not agree to this during the negotiations, and now that we have liberated a large part of the territory, it is out of the question.”

In response to the question of the SKY NEWS correspondent on October 9, 2021 “If 25 percent of the Azerbaijani population is allowed to return to Nago-rno-Karabakh, will you recognize the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh?” the President gave a decisive answer: “No. Never. This issue has never been on the table. Our position was very clear that Azerbaijan will never recognize the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh.”

In an interview with BBC NEWS, Mr. President reiterated this issue as a con-crete result: “Nagorno-Karabakh is an integral part of Azerbaijan. It will re-main part of Azerbaijan like any other region. It will again depend on how the Armenian government behaves. It’s not too late for them to make sense. It is not too late for them to get more at the negotiating table. Because once we take control of other cities and villages, there will be nothing left to talk about. So they are wasting time. If they act logically, we can work on some forms of self-government. We are not against it. However, they must not violate the territo-rial integrity of Azerbaijan.”

Mr. President clarified the status-quo, one of the most used terms for more than

30 years. In an interview with Turkish A Haber TV, he assessed the issue as follows:

“The status quo no longer exists. I said my words about it, and this is the reali-ty. What was the status quo? It meant keeping the lands under occupation... we have been waiting for 30 years to change this status quo, which we were hoping to achieve as a result of the negotiation process. But it didn’t happen. That is why we have already destroyed it on the battlefield. It does not exist anymore.”

In an interview with Turkish Haber Global television, the head of state ex-pressed this issue more harshly and decisively: “Azerbaijan changed the status quo itself, on the battlefield. There is no status quo ... I repeat, there is no status quo, there is no line of contact. There is no invincible army myth that Arme-nians have invented for many years about their armies. We have shown who is who. Therefore, Armenia must take into account these realities, their supporters must take into account, and the whole world must take into account all these realities.”

One of the most important points in Mr. President’s wartime interviews was answering questions about the future of the region, the prospects of Azerbaijani-Armenian relations, the future coexistence and reconciliation of the Azerbaijani and Armenian peoples, the fate of Armenians living in Karabakh, demonstrating that Azerbaijan is a tolerant country with high moral qualities.

In an interview with TRT HABER, the President said about the future relations between the two nations: “I hope that our peoples will be reconciled after the end of this aggressive policy.”

Clarifying the fate of the Armenians of Karabakh, in an interview with SKY NEWS, the head of state stressed: “People of Armenian descent in Nagorno-

Karabakh are hostages of the criminal regime there. I am confident that after the end of the war, they will live side by side with us in peace and dignity.”

In an interview with another media outlet, Russia’s “Perviy Kanal”, the head of state said: “We consider Armenians living in Karabakh as our citizens. We be-lieve that after the settlement of the conflict and the end of the occupation, the Armenian and Azerbaijani people of Nagorno-Karabakh must live together as they have for many years.”

In an interview with the Nikkei newspaper, the President reaffirmed these views: “Those Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh are our citizens. Their security and rights will be fully ensured like the rights of other people in Azer-baijan.”

He also told the Nikkei newspaper that Armenia, which supports separatism, threatens the territorial integrity of states, incites international hostility and turns terrorism into a state policy, has no future as a state: “I hope to see a time when the three Caucasus countries will cooperate ... Armenia has no future without normalizing relations with Turkey and Azerbaijan.”

In an interview with Italian RAI-1 television, the President once again openly called on Armenia to abandon its expansionist policy: “I think it is possible to achieve this if there is mutual good will ... Reconciliation is possible, only the Armenian leadership must abandon the aggressive policy.”

In an interview with the Turkish Haber Global TV channel, the head of state conveyed Azerbaijan’s resolute position and goals in military operations to the ene-my and the international community as follows: “Those who tell us to stop should know that, well, we can stop, and we do not want bloodshed. But after that, the political process must begin. If the political process does not begin, we will not stop. I said we will go to the end. But how? It is another matter, either militarily or politically. We want a military phase to end, no bloodshed, no martyrs and want the peaceful liberation of our lands.”

We have witnessed the Supreme Commander-in-Chief expressing optimism about the future of the Armenian community after the war, as well as the future of the liberated territories. In an interview with the Turkish Haber Global TV channel, he said that the liberated territories, which was the victim of Armenian vandalism, would soon become a paradise: “We will build cities there, we will bring life back there. We will restore all the ruined places ... We must turn all those lands into a paradise. The landscape is already a paradise, and despite the fact that it has been under Armenian occupation for many years, that land will come to life, life will return there, children’s laughter will come, people’s smiles will return. Azerbaijani citizens will live with dignity in those lands.”

Thus, the logical burden of the 44-day war ended with the statement of our Su-preme Commander-in-Chief, President Ilham Aliyev, in an interview with HABER TURK TV channel: “They wanted to enter our territory and occupy new lands. But they suffered the consequences.”

As Mr. President once said, “Karabakh is Azerbaijan.and an exclamation mark” became a reality with the 44-day Patriotic War and ended with the logical word “Victory belongs to Azerbaijan.”

Mehman Ismayilov

Chairman of the Trade Union of

the Employees of the Ministry of

Emergency Situations