President: 'Sporting victories were kind of symbolic compensation in consciousness of our people for defeat in First Karabakh War'

“During the times of occupation, sporting victories were kind of a symbolic compensation in the consciousness of our people for defeat in the First Karabakh War. So, we demonstrated that we can win and that became a very important factor of patriotism in Azerbaijan. Because when your athletes win, raise the flag, when your anthem was played - you are full of emotions and full of pride. So, that was an important factor of the young generation to be patriotic, because I clearly understood that without that we would not be able to win,” said President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev as he was interviewed by the China Media Group media corporation, Report informs, citing AZERTAC.