Ilham Aliyev: Anyone in the way of our determination will be crushed

Unfortunately, the Patriotic War did not teach the Armenian state a lesson, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev stated at a meeting with representatives of the Khojaly district community as part of the opening ceremony of the Khojaly Genocide Memorial in Khojaly town on February 26, Report informs.

"However, after the Victory of 2020, we repeatedly conveyed our position to the Armenian leadership in various ways - not to trust anyone or rely on anyone. Foreign military personnel were temporarily stationed on our land with our permission. If anyone thinks that this will somehow deter us, they are wrong. We have repeatedly sent messages to the Armenian side asking them to put an end to separatism, to remove the illegal junta regime, and for the Armenians living in Garabagh to take Azerbaijani citizenship. We had repeatedly stated this. We even initiated a reintegration program via the Internet, but we did not receive an adequate response. On the contrary, the separatists and the forces behind them became even more impudent," President Aliyev said.

"From the Victory of 2020 to the anti-terrorist operation of 2023, representatives of foreign states repeatedly came here illegally. I do not want to mention the names of those countries at today's ceremony. They gave advice, they sent weapons, they sent mines in order to encourage the separatists, to incite them against us again, and to disregard the state of Azerbaijan and its statehood. They believed that the contingent of a foreign state stationed here would somehow deter us. It could not deter us from anything, and the anti-terrorist operation that lasted for several hours showed this to the whole world. Anyone in the way of our determination will be crushed," the head of state added.