Ilham Aliyev warns Armenia: Don't play with fire, fist is in place

“My attitude remains the same. If they ever move from making such statements to any practical action, they will be destroyed immediately. No one can defend them. Let them not count on anyone either. For many years, they had been bragging about their ‘victorious and strong’ army,” Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said on May 10 in an interview with AzTV during his trip to the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, Report informs, citing Azertag.

The reporter asked: “On 8 May, the day of the occupation of Shusha, some government and opposition forces in Armenia made statements on the return of Shusha and voiced some revanchist views. You have repeatedly said that if they ever think of any revanchist steps, they will be destroyed. We would like to find out your attitude to this statement.”

“There is no power, resolve, or moral right in Armenia to keep such revanchist ideas alive. This would be tantamount to suicide for them. I want to say again that we are following these statements for the time being. Both the government and the opposition in Armenia, almost all elements involved in politics are voicing their views on the return of Shusha, on the return of Hadrut. We are still showing restraint. But they shouldn’t play with fire. They have experienced our fist. Our fist is still in place. No one can stand in front of us. If we see the slightest danger, the slightest danger, we will destroy them immediately. We will destroy them on the spot. And they know this too. We have the strength, we have the determination and we have the courage. The fist is also in place,” the head of state said in response.