The President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev announced that as a result of the one-day "anti-terrorist operation" carried out in Nagorno-Karabakh on September 19, the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan has been restored. In a televised address, Aliyev said that the withdrawal of illegal Armenian armed formations has begun, they have surrendered their weapons, and Armenians living in Karabakh will soon feel improvement.

Aliyev emphasized that in recent days, Armenia has suddenly shown political competence, which Baku values and considers to be an important factor in establishing peaceful relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

According to him, the world has always recognized Karabakh as the territory of Azerbaijan, and today Armenia also recognizes it. According to the President of Azerbaijan, the Armenian community of Karabakh will be introduced to the vision of the government at the meeting planned in the city of Yevlakh. At the meeting, the rights of the local population in terms of education, religion, culture, municipal elections and other aspects will be discussed.

The Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan launched an "anti-terrorist operation" in Karabakh on September 19, citing the death of 2 employees of the State Roads Agency of Azerbaijan and 4 servicemen of the internal army as a result of the explosion of mines planted by "subversive groups of the Armed Forces of Armenia" in Karabakh. According to the information of the ombudsman of the unrecognized Republic of Karabakh, at least 200 people were killed, including civilians, and more than 400 citizens were injured in the military operations conducted by Azerbaijan.

International law considers the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh part of Azerbaijan. Ethnic Armenians mainly populate the region. During the Soviet rule, the Karabakh region was transformed into an autonomous district. In 1988, the people of Karabakh wanted Karabakh to be transferred from Soviet Azerbaijan to Soviet Armenia. The conflict escalated into a full-scale war in the early 1990s. The hostilities continued until 1994, and eventually the region came under the control of the local Armenians, who declared independence on the territory of Karabakh. The Republic of Karabakh was not recognized by any country, including Armenia. In the fall of 2020, the renewed military conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, in which 7,000 soldiers and 170 civilians were killed, ended with a cease-fire agreement mediated by Russia. Baku regained control over a significant part of Nagorno-Karabakh and its surrounding territories. According to the agreement, Russian soldiers were deployed as peacekeepers in the Karabakh region.

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