The inauguration ceremony of President Ilham Aliyev was held in the Milli Majlis (Parliament) of Azerbaijan. After taking the oath on the constitution and the Koran, Aliyev delivered a speech in which he also addressed Armenia-Azerbaijan relations.
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“In the post-war period, we have maintained our principled position on all issues. In numerous meetings with the mediators and the Armenian side, we emphasized that all commitments must be fulfilled. Everything is stipulated in the act of capitulation. Some commitments were fulfilled, which was done under pressure and out of fear. However, over time, we have witnessed renewed territorial claims against us.
We have rightfully demanded the fulfillment of all conditions and obligations, which were signed by Armenia itself. Among these commitments, the foremost were those regarding the withdrawal of illegal armed groups from the territory of Azerbaijan and the establishment of a road connection between the main part of Azerbaijan and the Autonomous Republic of Nakhchivan. This issue remains unresolved three years later.
Armenia seems to have forgotten the results of the Second Karabakh War. Perhaps someone was giving them advice not to fulfill these obligations,” Aliyev remarked.
According to the President of Azerbaijan, regardless of how many patrons Armenia has, nobody can hinder Azerbaijan:
“We have no territorial claims against Armenia, although they should also abandon theirs. Attempting to blackmail us with unfounded claims will come at a high cost, as everyone can see. The process of strengthening our army will persist. Even today, the largest portion of our state budget is allocated to military expenditure.
Aliyev added that the ballot he cast into the ballot box in Khankendi, Karabakh [Stepanakert - Armenian] on February 7, the day of the presidential election, was not just a ballot paper – “it was the final nail in the coffin of Armenian separatists”.
Yesterday, February 13, four Armenian soldiers were killed and another was wounded as a result of a clash in the Nerkin-Handi district on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border. The parties accused each other of opening fire. It was the first major clash since last September when Azerbaijan launched a military operation in Nagorno-Karabakh and declared sovereignty restored. Following yesterday's incident, the Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, stated that Azerbaijan has no intention of ending the conflict.
Azerbaijan and Armenia fought two wars in Nagorno-Karabakh—in the 1990s and in the fall of 2020. The six-week war in 2020, which claimed more than 6,500 lives on both sides, ended with a Russian-brokered deal. Baku then regained control over a significant part of Nagorno-Karabakh and its surrounding territories.
