On August 12, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev was interviewed by Azerbaijan Television in Basgal settlement of Ismayilli district, the Press Office of the Azerbaijani President reported.

Regarding food security, he said that when Azerbaijan integrated its economy into the world economy, it applied all the fundamental principles of the market economy in Azerbaijan. "If we look at the structure of the gross domestic product of Azerbaijan today, we will see that the private sector accounts for most of our gross domestic product – local companies, foreign investors, and foreign companies. Under such circumstances, any economic processes in the world do not bypass us. They have an impact on us too. This includes the growing prices of food products in the world, which, of course, also affects us. This year, inflation in most countries of the world is in double digits. As you may know, inflation is usually very low in developed countries. However, we are seeing double-digit inflation even in those countries now," the President added.

"As you know, because of the Russian-Ukrainian war, many countries are physically unable to provide their population with wheat and grain. Because the main producers of grain are Russia and Ukraine, the war has certainly caused great obstacles in this matter. However, there is no problem in this field in Azerbaijan. We traditionally buy both grain and fertilizer from Russia. As a result of the agreements reached with our Russian partners, we are importing and will continue to import as much fertilizer and grain as we want," he emphasized.

Speaking about recent clashes in early August, the Azerbaijani President stated that Azerbaijan immediately carried out Operation Revenge, avenged the death of Azerbaijani martyr, and severely punished the enemy. "Operation Revenge lasted several hours and was a punitive measure. The blood of the Azerbaijani martyr cost the enemy dearly, and they should not forget that. If a similar provocation is repeated, the response will be the same. No one can stop us, and no one can be in our way," he said. The head of Azerbaijan stated, "At the same time, it showed that we do not want a new war. Because the second Karabakh war showed our strength, and we achieved what we wanted through military and then by military-political means. We will achieve our other dreams too. We will achieve them when the time is right. It is a reality that there are both tactical and strategic steps on our agenda. I am sure that Armenia is also aware that we know what to do and when to do it, and we always do what we say. We have repeatedly warned Armenia not to play with fire, to behave, to accept the new reality, and not resort to military provocations." "In principle, Armenia must come to terms with this situation, with the new reality in the future, because there is no other option. Operation Revenge showed Armenia again that no one and nothing can stop us – not someone's statement, not someone's announcement, not some phone call. Nothing and nobody! The people of Azerbaijan know this perfectly well. The second Karabakh war showed this. I am sure that the other party also knows this. They simply forget this sometimes. Therefore, these tragic events happen," he added.

The President said, "I should also note that hundreds of Armenian soldiers were withdrawn from the Karabakh region after Operation Revenge. This shows, unfortunately, that such operations have an effect. The reason I say "unfortunately" is that it was not necessary to do this. If Armenia had correctly analyzed our warnings and drawn the right conclusions, there would have simply been no need for this. Anyway, we were not the ones who started it. We have secured what we want, we have established ourselves in our own lands, and this will continue to be the case."

About the vacation of Lachin city and Zabukh/Aghavno, he said: "I should note that the Statement of November 10, 2020, explicitly states that a new road will be built and that the planning and approval of this road must be completed within three years. Let me also state that I was the one who included this clause in the trilateral statement. Because when the final negotiations were held on November 9, 2020 – the negotiations were conducted through Russian President Vladimir Putin, and the Armenian leadership and Russia itself were actively involved in these negotiations – I strongly insisted that this clause had to be included. Because the road connecting Armenia with Khankendi [Stepanakert in Armenian] passes through the city of Lachin. If I had not had this item included, then the city of Lachin would have fallen under this five-kilometer-wide zone, and it would not have been possible to return the former IDPs there any time soon. Therefore, I insisted and succeeded in having it included."

Regarding the alternative route connecting Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh, the President stated that extensive work is currently underway in all of Karabakh and East Zangazur, including the construction of this road as soon as possible. "We built this road in just one year. It is 32 kilometers long. Prior to that, immediately after the second Karabakh war, we started talks with the Russian side regarding the route of this road. In other words, this road did not fall out of the sky. We reached an agreement on this road. There were several routes on the table, and this route was eventually chosen. The Russian Ministry of Defense agreed and approved this route with us at the highest level. If this had been otherwise, how could we have built a road in the territory under the temporary control of Russia? So, this is natural. If anyone attempts to accuse us of having done something illegal or taking a unilateral step, it is absolutely not the case. We can prove it at any level," the President said.

"We have taken this path, and our other steps have been based on these commitments. We have acted based on that. However, Armenia is still engaged in provocations. They must understand that marking time will not do them any good. They are wrong if they think that something may change in their favor in a year or a year and a half. Things may change but in our favor because the geopolitical situation in the world and the region is obvious. You do not have to be a great politician to see that. Azerbaijan's military, economic, and political power is growing, while Armenia's isolation, if it is possible to say so, is because they are wrong. They are doing the wrong thing," he added.

He stated, "Today, there is no Karabakh [Nagorno-Karabakh] issue on the agenda of the normalization process between Armenia and Azerbaijan. There were such attempts, but I never agreed to that. What does Armenia have to do with it? This is our own affair. There is no talk of status at the negotiating table now. What is being discussed? The rights and security of the Armenians living in Karabakh. I have said the state of Azerbaijan will ensure their rights and security, and I always do what I say. We saw this during the construction of the new Lachin road. I can say that when we started building this road, the Russian peacekeepers were somewhat protecting our construction workers from the local population, or them from us, from our construction workers. I do not know whom they were protecting, but they were there. After a while, they left, and for the last six to seven months, there was not a single Russian peacekeeper along the road at all. There was no need for them. Our construction workers were in contact with Armenians living in the villages there. Some of them even came out to help and expressed their gratitude to us for building such a high-quality road."

"If someone in Karabakh still talks about some status or independence, be it for the sake of populism or, as they say, because they are afraid of someone, one should know that they are the first enemy of the Armenian people. Because the Armenians living in Karabakh will have no status, no independence, and no special privilege. They are the same as the citizens of Azerbaijan. Just as the rights of Azerbaijani citizens are protected, so are theirs," the head of Azerbaijan concluded.

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