On 27 June, Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev held a public speech in front of the leadership and a group of military personnel of Azerbaijani Army on Armed Forces Day, speaking on the future of the Azerbaijani army and Nagorno-Karabakh.  

“Armenia must understand that Azerbaijan will continue to grow, and this is beyond doubt. Our military strength will increase as well. After the war, relevant instructions were given, new contracts were signed and the process of purchasing new weapons, equipment and machinery based on modern technologies continues. The structural reforms of our Armed Forces have been approved. I can say that the number of our Armed Forces personnel will be increased. We will, of course, increase our military strength by properly analysing the results and course of the second Karabakh war. Armenia, on the other hand, will not be able to restore… its military power and its crushed army. If they do not renounce their hostile policies against us, they will have a very limited chance of restoring any economic activity. So, we will continue to grow stronger,” he stated. 

“There is only one way for Armenia to develop – to establish normal relations with its neighbours, give up their territorial claims and not to use the word Nagorno-Karabakh at all. Because there is no territorial unit called Nagorno-Karabakh, there is no concept of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. I have said this many times and I want to say again that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has been resolved. Armenia must accept it and work with us to determine the borders... Armenia must fully understand that we can complete any military task, and no-one can stop us. They should know that the iron fist is in place,” he emphasised.

Aliyev went on, describing the victory in the Second Karabakh war as a “glorious” chapter in Azerbaijan’s history. “The Second Karabakh war was a lesson that they (Armenia) will remember forever. The Second Karabakh war is our glorious history. This history will live in the hearts of the Azerbaijani people forever. It was a celebration of justice. It was a celebration of pride, a celebration of national dignity, a celebration of the indomitable spirit of the Azerbaijani people. We mobilised all our resources, won this war, and drove the enemy out of our lands. We put the enemy in such a disgraceful situation that they knelt before us, waved the white flag, and were forced to sign an act of capitulation. However, during the war, I repeatedly said in my speeches and interviews that we were ready to stop,” Aliyev said, adding that the war demolished the Armenian Army.  

He stated that the war was inevitable, but now the countries of the Caucasus should focus on establishing various peace initiatives in the region. “I can say that the Second Karabakh war was inevitable. Everyone knew that. The Azerbaijani public knew that the international mediators knew that, and so did we. There were only hopes that the Armenian leadership would at least show the self-defence instinct and leave our lands of its own free will. If that had happened, there would have been no need for war. We did not want war. We do not want it today either. I think that various initiatives should be put forward in our region, in the South Caucasus to reduce the risk of war to zero. We are ready for that. We do not need war. We have achieved what we wanted, and a new era has already begun for us – an era of construction, an era of restoration of our lands,” he stated. 

The Azerbaijani President also highlighted the importance of international support the country received in accomplishing its goal, especially praising Turkey, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and the Organization for Islamic Cooperation. “Who supported Armenia? We know that perfectly well, and it would be inappropriate to name them in today's ceremony. But what did those statements change? Nothing! Because we acted on the basis of international law, justice and strength,” he said. “I have repeatedly said that the norms of international law do not work. I have repeatedly said that the great powers implement the decisions that meet their own interests and do not implement those that don’t. Otherwise, the resolutions adopted by the UN Security Council and demanding an immediate withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from our lands would not have remained on paper for 30 years. We have seen that the norms of international law [seem to be directed towards] small, medium-sized, and not very strong countries. Large countries may ignore them and there is no enforcement mechanism. Of course, the power factor came to the fore. A few years before the war, I made it clear in my speeches: we must gather strength and this issue will be resolved by force,” Aliyev added.