THEY LIVE IN OUR HEARTS

Armenia ignores the resolutions of the UN Security Council on the immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of its troops from the occupied lands of Azerbaijan. Armenia illegally populates the occupied lands of Azerbaijan. Armenia is wiping out the historical and cultural heritage of the Azerbaijani people. Armenian soldiers shoot at civilians, provoked armed skirmishes, sabotages on the border and the line of contact. Armenia is forming militia groups. And finally, Armenia is preparing for a new war. President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev warned the international community about all these processes at the 75th session of the UN General Assembly on September 21, 2020 - less than a week before the start of the Second Garabagh War.

“Aggressive rhetoric and provocations demonstrate that Armenia is preparing for a new aggression against Azerbaijan. We call on the UN and the international community to restrain Armenia from another military aggression,” President of Azerbaijan said at a high-level meeting dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the UN.

However, even then it was clear that one should not expect an adequate reaction of the world community to Mr. Aliyev’s alarming statements. The conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia lasted more than 30 years, and all that international organisations have managed to do during this period was only to freeze the war and initiate unsuccessful mediation in through the OSCE Minsk Group.

Azerbaijan has always demonstrated its commitment to the peaceful settlement of the conflict, but at the same time it has repeatedly warned that it would not wait indefinitely for the liberation of its internationally recognised territories. But while more than a million Azerbaijani refugees were waiting for their return to their homes, neither the UN Security Council nor the mediating countries were in a hurry to put pressure on Armenia, which, with their tacit consent, continued its occupation policy.

In all fairness, over the years mediators have achieved certain progress in the development of settlement formulas, including the so-called Madrid principles, which have eventually been taken as a basis for negotiations. But after the statement of the Armenian Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan that ‘Garabagh is Armenia, period’ and after he put forward his seven conditions for the continuation of the negotiation process, it became clear that Yerevan was just trying to violate the established format and abandon the previously achieved progress. “I kicked off the negotiations not from Serzh Sargsyan’s point of reference but from my own. This is a very important nuance,” Pashinyan said back in 2019. Thus, his point of reference became a new kick-off point for the process of peaceful settlement of the Garabagh conflict.

Revolutionary government of Armenia has forgotten though about the lessons of the four-day April war of 2016, when Azerbaijan dispelled in a few days the myth about the so-called Ohanyan's line of defense. In July 2020, the Pashinyan government proclaimed the principle of ‘new war for new territories’, hence having provoked an armed clash on the border with Azerbaijan in Tovuz. Moreover, Russia, the key military-political ally of Yerevan, also confirmed that Armenia was a culprit of the border incident. Despite getting a duly response from Baku, Yerevan sent a sabotage group to Azerbaijan in August, which was neutralised by the Azerbaijani military. The next provocation on the front line turned out to be fatal for Armenia.

Tomorrow was war

On September 27, 2020, Azerbaijan launched a full-scale counteroffensive operation along the entire line of contact. During the day, the enemy's first line of defense was completely destroyed, strategic heights on the Murovdag mountain range, several villages of the Fuzuli and Jabrayil districts of Azerbaijan were liberated from occupation.

The counter-offensive operation of the Azerbaijani military, which President Ilham Aliyev later called the Iron Fist, lasted 44 days. During these days, Azerbaijan liberated over 300 settlements, and an area of 5,000 square kilometres, including the district centres of Jabrayil, Fuzuli, Zangilan, Gubadli, the strategically important settlement of Hadrut in the Khojavend district, and reached the Lachin Corridor. The culmination of Operation Iron Fist was the liberation of the pearl of Azerbaijan - the city of Shusha on November 8.

Prior to that, the Armenian leadership hoped to save the situation trying to get support from Moscow, Paris, and other allies. There were also futile attempts to involve the CSTO in their military adventure. It was only after the liberation of Shusha by Azerbaijan that Pashinyan realised that resistance was useless and agreed to sign the surrender through the mediation of Moscow.

Pursuant to the provisions of the November 10, 2020 trilateral statement of the leaders of Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Russia, Azerbaijan could return three more districts – Aghdam, Kalbajar, and Lachin. The total area of these districts was roughly 5,000 square kilometres and they were returned without a single shot.

Of course, any war has victims. Especially during counteroffensives, the counter-attacking side must be prepared for more casualties than the enemy. But the Second Garabagh War broke this stereotype too. The entire world saw that the Azerbaijani army was not only well armed, but also excellently trained. The Azerbaijani Army is equipped with ultra-modern weapons used to minimize losses. Thanks to the active use of the Turkish-made Bayraktar TB-2 drones, the Israeli Harop drones, the Azerbaijani army broke the main defense line of the enemy by disabling its air defense and electronic warfare systems, and broke through its well-fortified defense line. Yes, modern weapons made the conduct of operations much easier for the Azerbaijani army, but it was soldiers, and officers who accomplished the main task of liberating the territories. Especially, the liberation of Shusha... They still talk about it; the operation is analysed by foreign military experts.

Having suffered defeat on the battlefield, Armenia began shelling peaceful cities and villages of Azerbaijan from prohibited types of weapons. As a result, more than a hundred civilians lost their lives, hundreds of families were left homeless. But Azerbaijanis demanded that the authorities not stop, go to the end.

“During the war, we all lived with one slogan - we will die, but we will not retreat. The Azerbaijani people stood firmly behind the Azerbaijani army and gave it additional support. Death of innocent people, destruction of our cities and villages could not break the will of the Azerbaijani people. Every day we advanced; every day we had a victory; every day there were messages about new successes. For 44 days, there has not been a day when we retreated even a step. Although the enemy controlled favourable positions, had a great advantage thanks to the relief of the territory, and had constructed 5-6 rows of defensive fortifications over thirty years of occupation, we forced it to retreat. Not a single soldier in the Azerbaijani Army went AWOL during the 44-day war. While there were more than 10,000 deserters in the Armenian army,” President Ilham Aliyev said in his address to the Azerbaijani people on the occasion of the Day of Remembrance on September 27, 2021.

This day was introduced by the Dec 2, 2020 decree of the President of Azerbaijan. Every year on this day, Azerbaijan will honour the blessed memory of its heroes who sacrificed their lives for the liberation of the homeland.

What's next?

The Second Garabagh War has become history and will always be a glorious milestone in the history of Azerbaijan. Not only did Azerbaijan settle account with Armenia for the 1992-1994 war, but also plunged it into the abyss of social, economic, and political problems. Armenia will not able to recover quickly from this blow.

The war is over, but despite the trilateral agreement, illegal Armenian armed groups still remain in a small part of Garabagh. Moreover, there are still forces in Armenia that dream of revenge. But their more adequate opponents warn that any such attempt – given the current balance of forces – could cost Yerevan much more than last year's war. For example, Armenia may lose its existing formal statehood.

There are still many countries and forces that are not happy with the outcome of the war. They are still making attempts to revive the OSCE Minsk Group, to re-start conversations about a status of Nagorno-Karabakh. But Baku reminds that Azerbaijan has restored its territorial integrity on its own. This means that the mandate of the OSCE Minsk Group is exhausted, and talks about the status are no longer relevant, since the Armenian side refused to negotiate peacefully.

“We settled the conflict by military-political means. The war left everything behind, with the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict becoming a part of history. There is no administrative territory in Azerbaijan called Nagorno-Karabakh. If someone wants to revive the deceased Nagorno-Karabakh, they can do it on their own territory; they can create on that territory a republic or a society called Nagorno-Karabakh and we will recognise it. But not in Azerbaijan! This issue is over. I am saying this, President of Azerbaijan, Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. Everyone must and will respect these words,” Ilham Aliyev said.

The principle position of President Aliyev is well known to everyone, including the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs. So the less are talks about the ‘unsettled conflict’, the better it will be for the further progress of the post-war agreements.

The region is gradually enjoying peace today. Azerbaijan clears the liberated lands from Armenian mines, restores infrastructure, rebuilds cities and villages. In just nine months after the war, Azerbaijan constructed an international airport in Fuzuli, a road to Shusha and ensured power supply to the districts. But this is just the beginning. Armenia left behind only ruins and scorched earth. Its restoration will take many years, effort, and money.

Not all countries and powers were satisfied with the outcome of the war. Therefore, there are still questions that require a lot of diplomatic work. Fortunately, in contrast to ill-wishers, there is always Turkey next to Azerbaijan, which has made a significant contribution to last year's victory.

One way or another, thanks to the heroes of war, whose memory will live forever in the hearts of Azerbaijanis, one thing cannot be changed ever: Garabagh is Azerbaijan!