Aliyev said in a speech to the nation on Wednesday night that Baku’s forces “destroyed most” of the separatists’ forces and military equipment and “re-established their sovereignty” in this region, which has been disputed for decades with Armenia.
On Wednesday, Aliyev presented to the residents of the Karabakh region of Armenian origin, and to neighboring Armenia as well, the prospects for cooperation, reconciliation and joint development after his forces took control of the separatist enclave.
He said in a televised speech that Azerbaijan has regained full sovereignty over its territory and now wants to integrate the population of Karabakh and turn the region into a “paradise.”
He added that Azerbaijan has nothing against the Armenian people of Karabakh, whom he said “are our citizens,” but only against its “criminal” separatist leaders.
He said Azerbaijan appreciated the fact that Armenia, on whose support the Karabakh region has depended for three decades, did not seek to interfere in the Baku military operation, but remained “monitoring.” He said this improved the prospects for peace talks.
Demonstrations in Yerevan
On the other hand, thousands of Armenians demonstrated outside the headquarters of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Yerevan, in protest against the government’s management of the crisis in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region with Azerbaijan.
The demonstrators, who closed the streets surrounding the headquarters, accused the government of abandoning the Armenians, who constitute the majority of the region’s population, after the military operation that Azerbaijan began on Tuesday and ended about 24 hours later with the separatists’ surrender.
Sarkis Hayats, 20, who works in the music field, said, “We are losing our homeland and our people,” adding to Agence France-Presse that Pashinyan “must leave, as he is unable to rule the country.”
After his rapid rise to power, Pashinyan pledged change, but the humiliating military defeat by Azerbaijan in 2020 and the escalation in Nagorno-Karabakh tarnished his reputation.
The opposition constantly accuses Pashinyan of making major concessions on Karabakh.
“Everyone has left Artsakh, my country has become without help,” 47-year-old Hasmik Manukyan said while crying, using the name that Armenia gives to Karabakh.
He added that his country’s authorities “believe that Artsakh constitutes an unnecessary burden on Armenia, but it is not so.”
As for Suren Javulyan, 26 years old, he confirmed, “We will stay here and organize demonstrations,” noting that “if the Armenians unite, the enemy will not win.”
Russia: The Karabakh crisis is an Azerbaijani affair
In Moscow, the Russian presidency considered the Nagorno-Karabakh crisis an “internal matter” for Azerbaijan.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, “There is no doubt that Karabakh is an internal matter for Azerbaijan,” stressing that the latter “disposes of lands belonging to it, which is acknowledged by Armenian officials,” in statements reported by the Interfax agency.
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