Ilham Aliyev: There were more than 10,000 deserters in the Armenian army

“Of course, the Armenian army and personnel were in a deep moral and psychological shock. They were terrified, and, of course, in the following period, from October 3 until the last minutes of the war, the Armenian army remained in fear. It is no coincidence that there were more than 10,000 deserters in the Armenian army. They realized that they could not stand in front of us. They saw that their government was lying to them and sending them to death, that it was carrying out meaningless operations, as a result of which the personnel of the Armenian armed forces were actually sacrificed. An army of 10,000 deserters could not resist us, of course,” President Ilham Aliyev said when raising the Azerbaijani flag in Sugovushan settlement of Tartar district on October 3, Report informs.

“After that, the glorious Victory March of the Azerbaijani Army and our Armed Forces continued. It is true that in some places the Armenian side did put up some resistance. In some places, it created difficulties for us. But this is a war. After all, they had built great fortifications over 30 years – look at these mountains, they were all natural fortifications – and, of course, they had the opportunity to defend themselves. But they already knew that they could not stand in front of us. The presence of 10,000 deserters speaks volumes,” the head of state said.