The Patriotic War: How Azerbaijan Liberated Its Occupied Territories

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, who successfully continues this path, stated the importance of economic strength, first of all, for the restoration of the country’s territorial integrity. As a result of the accurate and thought-out policies, Azerbaijan began to gain strength, secured its economic independence and became a modern state economically independent of anyone, any country or international financial institution. He created a unique model of development in the world. The country’s economic growth led to a turnaround in army building. The Azerbaijani Army’s arsenal was replenished with advanced weapons and military equipment. The knowledge and skills of Azerbaijani servicemen were enhanced and significant steps were taken to improve their social protection and professional environment. Azerbaijan’s defense industry was developed and most of the army’s domestic needs were met through domestic production. Azerbaijan began to produce more than 1,000 types of military products and became an exporter of the most modern weapons. The high combat capability of the Azerbaijani Army was demonstrated to the world in numerous military parades in Azadlig Square.

Most importantly, over the past 30 years the people of Azerbaijan never put up with the occupation and showed unwavering determination in the restoration of their territorial integrity. The patriotic youth that has matured under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev has repeatedly proved that they were ready to make any sacrifice in the interests of the Motherland.

Over the said period, Azerbaijan has significantly strengthened its standing as a reliable partner, enhanced the country’s reputation and turned its determination into the crucial factor in the region through the implementation of multifaceted, principled and authentic foreign policy, active engagement with international organizations and foreign countries and forging close relations, as well as implementation of regional energy and communication projects.

All these factors fully conditioned the absolute victory of Azerbaijan and made it only a matter of time.

Azerbaijan has repeatedly called on Armenia to return the occupied territories, but Armenia not only ignored those calls, but also felt encouraged to occupy more of Azerbaijan’s lands and opted, instead, for a series of military provocations.

By torpedoing the format and subject matter of the negotiations, by creating a semblance of negotiations, by not implementing the UN Security Council resolutions and decisions, Armenia explicitly showed that it was not in favor of peace.

The statement of the Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Khankendi on 5 August 2019 that “Karabakh is a part of Armenia and full stop” became one of the most obvious admissions of Armenia’s policy of aggression. President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev reacted harshly to Pashinyan’s statement during his speech at the 16th annual meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club on 3 October 2019, saying that “Karabakh is Azerbaijan and an exclamation mark.”

President Ilham Aliyev clearly describes this period: “Indeed, they refer to Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent state. They then published new maps and began to attribute all the adjacent districts to Nagorno-Karabakh. Our towns and villages were renamed, and finally we were threatened with a new war for new territories. This was stated by their defense minister named Tonoyan. He announced that Armenia was preparing for a new war for new territories.”

In July 2020, Armenia committed another military provocation in the direction of Tovuz on the state border with Azerbaijan. The purpose of the provocation was to create a new source of tension in the region, to put the issue of occupation of Azerbaijani territories on the backburner, to involve third countries in the conflict and to cause damage to Azerbaijan’s strategic infrastructure. The Azerbaijani Army responded with a crushing blow to the enemy.

In August 2020, Armenia resorted to yet another military provocation by sending a sabotage group to Azerbaijan to commit acts of terror. However, the Azerbaijani Army foiled this subversive plan too.

Speaking at the 75th session of the UN General Assembly on 24 September 2020, President Ilham Aliyev warned the international community that Armenia was preparing for a new war against Azerbaijan: “Armenia has recently adopted an aggressive and belligerent military doctrine and national security strategy… We call on the United Nations and the international community to deter Armenia from another military aggression. Responsibility for the provocations and the escalation of tensions lies squarely with the military-political leadership of Armenia.”

Thus, the military-political leadership of Armenia did not learn the lesson from the battles of April 2016 and the battles of July 2020, and continued to aggravate the situation.

On 27 September 2020, a counter-offensive was launched in response to Armenia’s yet another large-scale military attack on Azerbaijani Army positions and civilian settlements. The counter-offensive later became known as Operation Iron Fist that led to the Patriotic War.

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