“We have resolved the issue with Armenia. I am sure that there will be no third war, but the threats have not disappeared, after the war we faced new threats.”
President Ilham Aliyev said this in an interview to local Azerbaijani television on January 10.
Aliyev added that “resisting threats is not an easy task” and that “we [Azerbaijan] have never gone on an adventure and we never will”
The head of the country emphasized that after the Russian-Ukrainian war, the largest countries of Europe are now creating their armies. “Now they started talking about a single European army. Now they have started to release military products, or they are expanding. When did we start this? It’s been 15 years”, Aliyev said. He added that Azerbaijan has signed new contracts with major Turkish and Israeli companies and is on the final stages of negotiations with several leading companies to expand local weapon production.
Talking about whether the peace treaty was signed or not, Ilham Aliyev said that Armenia is probably waiting for some geopolitical changes, “I have the impression that someone promised something to Armenia”, he complements.
However, the head of state said that “Armenia will finally understand that a peace agreement is inevitable” and gave his opinion on some points:
“During the last year – since March, we have shown three times that no one can stand in front of us and we achieve what we want, and any Armenian patron cannot come close to their help. This is the first one. Secondly, the heights controlled both in the direction of the Azerbaijan-Armenian border and in the direction of Karabakh provide us with a great strategic advantage. Visual observation already allows us to see any danger from the beginning and prevent it. I believe that Armenia, which has already suffered three military and political failures, will understand that a peace agreement is inevitable. The sooner they understand this and the sooner they find strength and will and agree to it, the better it will be for the region.”
Aliyev also noted that Azerbaijan has no intention of starting a third war. He claimed that this is a hoax shared by the Western media, adding that he “believe and want to hope that 2023 will be the real end of the 2020 Karabakh war, and such events will not happen this year.”
