President Aliyev speaks about separation of Zangazur from Azerbaijan

"A few months after the collapse of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, Zangazur was taken away from us. Everyone should know this history. In November 1920, by the decision of the Soviet government, our historical land of Western Zangazur was taken away from Azerbaijan and handed over to Armenia without any grounds. This was another act of hostility and injustice against our people. Because the Azerbaijani people lived for centuries in both the east and the west of Zangazur, and all the toponyms of the West Zangazur in the territory of present-day Armenia belonged to Azerbaijani people. The ethnic composition of the population in all the villages was Azerbaijanis, President Ilham Aliyev said at the meeting with the public members in the Aghali village of the Zangilan district.

"The situation was almost the same after the independence of modern Azerbaijan. Because in two years, from October 1991 to 1993, Armenia carried out another aggression against Azerbaijan. Four months after the declaration of independence, the Armenian state committed the Khojaly genocide against our people. Three months later, Shusha and Lachin were occupied. And in April 1993, Kalbajar was occupied too. Thus, a live connection was established between Armenia and Karabakh.

"We could have faced the same situation in 1993. That is, our independence was, in fact, under significant threat. It existed de-jure, not de-facto. Because Azerbaijan could not pursue an independent policy. True independence means whether you can pursue an independent policy or not. Otherwise, it is simply conditional.

"Our life of true independence began in 1993 when the people invited the Great Leader to power. Our presence here today and our participation in the opening of the village of Aghali are connected to the strengthening of our independence. Neither at the beginning nor the end of the 20th century was our independence strong. That is why our people have faced great tragedies. Both East Zangazur and Karabakh were occupied. The current government could not protect our lands. But today, our independence is strong, and as a result, we have won the Second Karabakh War, the historic Victory. We brought the enemy to their knees, and we are here today," the head of state said.