Years of building up the army, improving the professionalism of the Armed Forces, holding regular military exercises, strengthening combat capability and equipping the army with modern technology and weapons played a major role in securing victory.
“Operative Information Center-OMM” reports that President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said this in an address to the people from Khankendi on Victory Day.
The president said the main path to victory, however, ran through the hearts of the people, soldiers and officers:
“The path that led us forward was one of dignity. The Azerbaijani people never intended to accept occupation. During the occupation, I repeatedly stated publicly at various events that Azerbaijan would not accept occupation. Although countries backing Armenia wanted us to accept it, they repeatedly said there was no military solution to the conflict. They staged various provocations time and again to push us into unacceptable concessions. The large-scale smear and slander campaign against Azerbaijan, and all the provocations aimed at discrediting the Azerbaijani state, people and leadership, achieved nothing. I repeatedly said that we would never accept occupation and that, if Armenia did not withdraw from the occupied territories voluntarily, we would restore our territorial integrity by military means.”
