Azerbaijan liberated its lands thanks to President Ilham Aliyev's political wisdom - Latvian ex-president

By Trend

Azerbaijan achieved its goal [of liberating its territories from Armenian occupation] thanks to the political wisdom and determination of President Ilham Aliyev, Former President of Latvia Valdis Zatlers told Trend.

According to Zatlers, the UN and the OSCE Minsk Group were trying to solve the Karabakh conflict diplomatically for about 30 years, but couldn't do it.

In Zatlers' words, it’s not easy to make a decision to liberate the lands from occupation and to do this, one must be fully prepared and do it at the right time.

"Thanks to the political wisdom and determination of President Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijan achieved its goal. As a result, Azerbaijanis celebrate November 8 as Victory Day," he added.

Following over a month of military action to liberate its territories from Armenian occupation from late Sept. to early Nov. 2020, Azerbaijan has pushed Armenia to sign the surrender document. A joint statement on the matter was made by the Azerbaijani president, Armenia's PM, and the president of Russia.

A complete ceasefire and a cessation of all hostilities in the zone of the Karabakh conflict were introduced on Nov. 10, 2020.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, the Armenian Armed Forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.