Azerbaijan has completed its anti-terrorist operation in Karabakh and restored its sovereignty over the region, President Ilham Aliyev announced in an address to the people on Wednesday, Turanews.kz reports citing TRT Russian.
The operation, which began on September 19, was launched to “restore the constitutional order” in Karabakh, which has been under the control of Armenian separatists for decades.
Aliyev said that Azerbaijan had achieved all of its goals within the framework of the operation, including the destruction of most of the enemy’s weapons and equipment. He also said that the civilian population in Karabakh had been protected throughout the operation.
“We achieved this using precision weapons, while at the same time the civilian population felt completely protected thanks to the professionalism of our Armed Forces. At the same time, instructions were given not to carry out any attacks on civilian infrastructure, to disable only military infrastructure,” Aliyev said.
The Azerbaijani president also said that he is confident that the Armenian population living in Karabakh will soon see changes for the better.
“Our intention is to build a life together on the basis of peace, mutual understanding and mutual respect. We have no problems with the Armenian people, we have no enmity,” Aliyev said.
He also praised the Armenian leadership for showing “political competence” in the current situation.
“I believe that the events that happened today and yesterday will have a positive impact on the peace process between Azerbaijan and Armenia. The position shown by Armenia yesterday and today is promising,” Aliyev said.
The truce agreement that was reached on September 20 provides for the dissolution of separatist formations in Karabakh and the withdrawal of Armenian military personnel from the region.
