Chronicles of Victory (September 29, 2020): President Ilham Aliyev responds to questions on Rossiya-1 TV channel’s “60 minutes” program (PHOTO/VIDEO)

BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 29. The
Azerbaijani Army launched a counter-offensive operation, later
called the "Iron Fist", on September 27, 2020, in response to the
large-scale provocation of the Armenian armed forces along the
frontline.
The 44-day second Karabakh war ended with the liberation of
Azerbaijan’s territories from nearly 30-year Armenian occupation
and the restoration of territorial integrity.
On September 29, the Rossiya-1 TV channel broadcast the "60
minutes" program dedicated to the latest events on the
Azerbaijani-Armenian line of contact.
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and Prime Minister of
Armenia Nikol Pashinyan responded to questions from the hosts on
the program.
The hosts first asked questions of President of Azerbaijan Ilham
Aliyev.
Host: Mr. President, thank you for agreeing to this
interview. What is happening at the front right now? Information
about the use of aviation is already coming in.
President Ilham Aliyev: The situation at the
front is tense. As a result of the Armenian military provocation,
which began on the morning of 27 September, Azerbaijani settlements
and our combat positions were subjected to massive artillery fire.
As a result of this aggression, 11 Azerbaijani civilians, including
two children, were killed. There are also casualties among the
military. We were forced to give an adequate response to the
aggressor and thus protect our people and our land. So fierce
battles have been going on for three days now, as a result of which
the Azerbaijani Army has liberated a number of settlements from
occupation and also seized strategic heights in different
directions. Today the situation is such that active hostilities are
underway.
Host: Ilham Heydarovich, please clarify to us
the role of Turkey. Ankara has officially, through its President
and leaders of the Foreign Ministry, announced that it will help
you on the battlefield.
President Ilham Aliyev: 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 the world
community learned that Armenia attacked Azerbaijan, Turkey spoke
out unequivocally at the level of the head of state and other
leaders in support of Azerbaijan, in support of international law.
Armenia has grossly violated international law by occupying the
territory of Azerbaijan for about 30 years. So the role of Turkey
consists in that, nothing else. Turkey provides us with moral
support, and we are grateful to the Turkish leadership, the
President and the Turkish people for their solidarity and support.
Turkey does not participate in this conflict in any other capacity.
All the rumors that Turkey is participating as a party to the
conflict being circulated by the Armenian side are of provocative
nature. As they say now, this is fake news. There is no evidence of
Turkey's involvement in the conflict and neither is that necessary.
The Azerbaijani Army is sufficiently prepared to protect its people
and territory.
Host: Ilham Heydarovich, so you do not confirm,
moreover, you refute the information that Turkish Air Force shot
down a plane of the Armenian Air Force literally an hour ago. It
was about the F-16 and Su-25.
President Ilham Aliyev: We do not have this
information. Just recently, I was informed that such news appeared
in the information space. It is not confirmed by anything. The F-16
aircraft of the Turkish Air Force do not participate in hostilities
in any way. You know, taking into account modern technologies, it
is very difficult to conceal anything today, because there are
objective forms of observation. There are satellite observations,
and therefore it is very easy to verify that this is another
provocation. We understand the goal of the Armenian side – by
creating such false news, they first want to belittle the combat
capability of the Azerbaijani Army, which is now fulfilling the
task of restoring its territorial integrity with dignity, and also
to create the impression that the conflict is growing, that third
countries are joining it. They are trying to attract as many
countries as possible in order to justify their provocation.
Therefore, I declare to you with full responsibility: Turkey is not
a party to the conflict, does not participate in it in any way, and
there is no need for this.
Host: Ilham Heydarovich, is your country ready to move
towards the Kazan formula, within the framework of which Armenia
must liberate several districts, or any other formula? What can be
done in principle now? How can the situation be reversed if the
conflict in Karabakh and Karabakh proper has been burning or at
least smoldering for as many as 30 years? What to do?
President Ilham Aliyev: You know, Azerbaijan
has always shown constructiveness on the negotiation track. And the
co-chairs of the Minsk Group, who are responsible for the mediation
mission, can confirm this. In particular, over the past two years,
we have repeatedly stated, both myself and other officials, that we
are committed to the principles of settlement that have been
developed over the years and which the Minsk Group and its
co-chairs consider the basis for the negotiating process. Moreover,
we have stated repeatedly in the past two years and before that we
are committed to the format of the negotiations. 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. This is an incorrect definition. Not all
sides. There are only two sides – Armenia and Azerbaijan. But what
has been happening in recent years, after the Soros coup which was
carried out by the current government in Armenia? The Armenian
prime minister publicly declares that Karabakh is Armenia, full
stop. In this case, what kind of negotiations can we talk about?
After all, the essence of the principles developed by the OSCE
Minsk Group is that the territories around the former
Nagorno-Karabakh autonomous region should be transferred to
Azerbaijan. And if he says that Karabakh is Armenia and, in
addition, that we have to negotiate with the so-called puppet
regime of Nagorno-Karabakh, thereby trying to undermine the format
of negotiations that has already existed for 20 years, it means
that Armenia deliberately disrupts the negotiations and puts
forward unacceptable demands. When the Minsk Group recently began
to speak more actively about who is still an obstacle to the
settlement, they resorted to provocations like the one on 27
September. Before that, on 12 July, our positions at the state
border were attacked. After that, on 23 August, when an Armenian
sabotage group was captured, its leader was captured on the line of
contact. Everything is being done to disrupt the negotiations, then
accuse Azerbaijan, then involve third parties and thereby disrupt
the negotiations. Because the Armenian side wants to maintain the
status quo. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group represented by
the presidents of Russia, France and the United States have
repeatedly made statements that the status quo is unacceptable. And
this means that the territories under occupation must be returned
to Azerbaijan. We are committed to negotiations, but we see
completely opposite actions from the Armenian side.
Host: Please tell us, Mr. President, what happened on
Sunday, what provoked such a large-scale and bloody
confrontation?
President Ilham Aliyev: You know, Armenia had
been moving towards this Sunday, towards what happened on Sunday
for several months. If you trace the chronology of their actions
and statements, you will clearly see that they deliberately went
for this provocation. Not so long ago, 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 at the state border. This is far from the conflict
zone. One civilian and several servicemen were killed then. The
clashes lasted four days, and since we did not have and do not have
any military targets on the territory of 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 sabotage 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 is a war crime. This is a
violation of the Geneva Convention. This is done demonstratively.
Prior to 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 conflict and
provoke retaliatory actions. We showed restraint, constructiveness
and common sense, but when they failed, they made this attempt.
Moreover, another reason is the internal political crisis that
exists in Armenia. After all, there is a Soros regime in Armenia
today. The coup that failed in Belarus was successful in Yerevan
two years ago. Today the Armenian leader in the person of Pashinyan
is Soros' henchman, a man who made a lot of promises and who cannot
fulfill them, and the country is in crisis.
So he needed an external factor, some kind of a mess, so to
speak, in order to divert the attention of the population, which he
succeeded in doing. Moreover, literally two days before they
attacked us, the leader of the main opposition party in Armenia was
arrested again. So, the dictatorial and despotic regime of
Pashinyan eliminated the entire opposition in his country and is
now demonstrating aggression against the Azerbaijani people
again.
Host: Your position is clear. Many thanks! Can you
please say quite briefly: yes or no. Are there fighters from Syria
on the front right now?
President Ilham Aliyev: No! This is more fake
news. There are no fighters from Syria. There is no evidence, no
proof. This has been introduced by Armenian propaganda and
circulates through different websites and different media. There is
no need for this. Azerbaijan has a trained army and a very large
mobilization reserve. Just yesterday, I announced partial
mobilization, we are calling tens of thousands of reservists under
arms, and with a population of 10 million versus 2 million in
Armenia we have no need for human resources. Therefore, we are able
to stand up for ourselves and punish the aggressor so that he
doesn’t venture even to look in our direction.
Host: Thank you very much! Ilham Aliyev was on the line
with us from Baku. Peace to you. Good bye!
President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you! Good
bye!
Host: Now we are being joined by Yerevan. The Armenian
leader, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is on the line. Nikol
Vovayevich, hello. First of all, we would like to ask you to
comment on what is happening right now. There is some very
disturbing news coming in.
Nikol Pashinyan: This morning the news is that
Azerbaijan bombed villages directly on the territory of the
Republic of Armenia. And before that, on 27 September, the Armed
Forces of Azerbaijan launched a full-scale military aggression
against Nagorno-Karabakh. For three days, they have been bombing
the settlements of Nagorno-Karabakh using artillery and multiple
launch rocket systems. Unfortunately, we have casualties not only
among the military, but also among the civilian population. A very
important nuance is that Turkey is actually involved in this
process. According to our reliable information, military
instructors and high-ranking military personnel are now in the
command posts of Azerbaijan and in some places they even direct
military operations. Another very important nuance – there have
already been many publications in international media outlets that
Turkey is recruiting mercenaries in Syria and transporting them to
Azerbaijan to participate in the war against Nagorno-Karabakh and
the Republic of Armenia. By the way, there is information that
right in Azerbaijani settlements there were some clashes between
these mercenaries and local residents, because these mercenaries
are trying to impose Sharia law in these villages. They go into
shops and demand that these shops stop selling alcoholic products,
etc.
Host: Mr. Pashinyan, the news has just come in that a
Turkish F-16 shot down a Su-25 of the Armenian Air Force. Moreover,
the news came in with reference to the Armenian Ministry of
Defense. The pilot died. Are you aware of this? What can this mean
if planes of Armenia and Turkey are already colliding in the
sky?
Nikol Pashinyan: This is a fact that has
already taken place and is yet another proof of what I was talking
about. You know, it is obvious that both Armenia and the Armenians
of Nagorno-Karabakh are under the direct threat of Turkey now.
Turkey, according to our information, is looking for a reason for
wider involvement in this conflict. According to our information,
they are looking for an excuse to bring their troops to Nakhchivan.
It is an Azerbaijani enclave bordering Turkey, Armenia and Iran.
Although we have information here that some units of the Turkish
army are already present there. In general, this is no secret.
Turkish troops have already been in Azerbaijan since August. They
began joint military exercises, and this war began as a
continuation of these military exercises.
Host: Nikolay Vovayevich, many experts these days are
formulating and explaining everything that is now happening in
Nagorno-Karabakh quite rigidly. The word war is floating around. To
what extent is it correct and appropriate to use this word and is
it possible to do at least something in order to stop the bloodshed
and stop the fire?
Nikol Pashinyan: Well, of course, this is the
correct wording. Because there is a war going on. There is a lot of
destruction, casualties and a huge number of military personnel
involved, and this is a very important nuance for us. As you know,
at the beginning of the 20th century, the first genocide of the
20th century took place. This happened in the Ottoman Empire, and
the Armenian people fell victim to that genocide. Therefore, we all
perceive this as an existential threat to our people. In fact, we
perceive it as a war that was declared to the Armenian people. Our
people are now simply forced to exercise their right to
self-defense. What can we do? The international community must
resolutely condemn the aggressive actions and aggression of
Azerbaijan, condemn the actions of Turkey, demand that Turkey
withdraw from this region altogether, because Turkey's military
presence in the South Caucasus does not promise anything good. This
can lead to further escalation and an increase in the scale of this
military action, this war. The international community must take
specific steps to force Turkey to withdraw from the South Caucasus
and force Azerbaijan to stop aggression and aggressive actions,
military operations.
Host: Prime Minister, we will not detain you any longer.
We know that you need to run to a meeting with the military. A very
short question: what negotiation formats can work now? Or have all
the previous agreements already been thrown into the past –
relatively speaking, the Kazan format, according to which you must
liberate several districts? Have all these agreements been erased
or is it still possible to move along them?
Nikol Pashinyan: You know, as far as the format
of negotiations is concerned, we believe that the negotiations
should continue where they were started – with the co-chairmanship
of the OSCE Minsk Group. As for specific negotiations, negotiations
need to have an appropriate atmosphere. It is very difficult to
talk about negotiations, especially about their content, when
military action is taking place. First of all, violence must be
stopped, and it must be stated. Azerbaijan must accept the formula
that there is no military solution for the Nagorno-Karabakh
problem. After all, this war did not start from scratch. For a long
time, the Azerbaijani government has been developing a rhetoric of
hatred against Armenians and has been threatening for a long time,
contrary to international appeals, that it is going to resolve the
Nagorno-Karabakh issue by military means. I hope that at least
these events and the situation we now have will convince Azerbaijan
that there is no military solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict. Because the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan have failed to
fulfill their task. I think the military-political leadership could
not achieve any success in the military sense at the front. That
is, they could not resolve their problem. I hope this will convince
Azerbaijan that there is no military solution to this conflict.
There is only a peaceful and negotiated solution to the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and any solution must be acceptable not
only to Azerbaijan, but also to Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. After
all, I want to state that when I became prime minister, I proposed
and continued to offer a specific formula for resolving this
conflict that any solution should be acceptable to Armenia,
Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan. The names of the countries doesn’t
matter. I mean that this solution should be equally acceptable.
Unfortunately, the government of Azerbaijan, the President of
Azerbaijan want to reach a solution that will be acceptable only to
Azerbaijan. That is impossible. A compromise is needed, and an
atmosphere is needed for a compromise, and to do that Azerbaijan
must immediately stop its aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh and
Armenia because Azerbaijan started it. By the way, and it was a
pre-planned operation, and there is no doubt that this operation
was planned during the military exercises in conjunction with the
Turkish armed forces. Thank you.
Host: Thank you very much! Let's proceed from the fact
that the option should be really acceptable both for Armenia and,
of course, for Azerbaijan. There is no military solution to this
conflict. Only politics and the diplomatic path. Thank
you!
X X X
Political and military experts then joined the discussions.
Igor Korotchenko, Editor-in-Chief of the
"Natsionalnaya oborona" magazine:
- I listened to the speeches of the leaders of Azerbaijan and
Armenia very attentively. Undoubtedly, it was an absolutely clear,
logical, precise and consistent speech by Ilham Aliyev. This is the
MGIMO school. MGIMO trains great personnel! Now to the essence of
what has been said. President Ilham Aliyev is right when he said
absolutely correctly that with the current level of development of
intelligence technologies – satellite, electronic, undercover – it
is impossible to conceal the fact that if Turkish fighters were
really deployed to the territory of Azerbaijan, this would be
exposed quite easily by any country that has satellite
intelligence... Today the Nagorno-Karabakh region is closely
monitored by all the leading countries of the world. I would like
to draw the attention of my colleagues to the following. We are all
adherents of international law. From the point of view of the norms
of international law, military action today is taking place on the
territory of Azerbaijan, between the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan and
Armenian military formations.