Ilham Aliyev talks about sabotage group sent to Hadrut from Armenia

“The Hadrut operation was of great strategic, historical, moral and psychological importance. Today, the former Hadrut district of the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region is completely free of the occupiers,” Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said at a meeting with members of the general public of Khojavand district on Oct. 9, Report informs.

The head of state noted that after the war had ended, a special sabotage group was sent to some villages of Hadrut district from Shirak region of Armenia:

“In late November, they crossed the Lachin corridor and entered these areas. As you know, they were disarmed and arrested. Those who did not commit crimes were returned, while those who committed crimes and saboteurs had to answer in court. What I am saying is that about 20 days, two weeks after the war had ended and Armenia had signed the act of capitulation, they tried to attack Hadrut again. But the Azerbaijani Armed Forces took the necessary steps.”

The president added that according to the administrative-territorial division of Azerbaijan, Hadrut settlement is a part of Khojavand district.

“By joining Hadrut and Martuni districts, which were once a part of the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region, we joined them – we have created Khojavand district. I must also say that about 55-60 percent of the former Martuni district has been liberated from the occupiers and Azerbaijani citizens will return to those regions.

Looking at Hadrut settlement, everyone can see again that the Armenians did not consider these lands as their native land. After all, notice what state Hadrut is in. You have seen Hadrut, you have lived here, you have been here, you have lived in nearby villages. There are representatives of several villages here. Nothing has changed here for almost 30 years. Two buildings have been constructed for the military and one school has been renovated. All other buildings remain the way they were.

In other words, there was pervasive misery. They did not lift a finger. Notice the condition of roads and buildings. How a person can live in some of these buildings is a huge question. One is tempted to ask a question: in 30 years the Armenian state has received millions of money from the Armenians living abroad. They ran marathons every year, raising more than a hundred million dollars a year. Multiply that by 30 years and see how much money this adds up to. I am visiting all these regions now, I have been to Hadrut, many villages of Hadrut, the villages of Chanagchi and Sighnakh of Khojaly, Azikh, Tugh, Susanli and other villages – are of them all in a dilapidated condition. Our builders are visiting some villages and analyzing that 95 percent of the buildings is in disrepair.”