The President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, stated that the peace established between Armenia and Azerbaijan will be long-lasting, but emphasized that Baku "does not intend to forget" the events of the Karabakh conflict.
At the same time, he made a number of, to put it mildly, controversial statements regarding the actions of Armenia during the war and conflict.
As APA reports, Aliyev made these statements during a meeting with participants of international conferences in Baku.
"Today, peace has been established and the war has stopped. A peace process is underway between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and I am sure that the peace will be long-lasting. In any case, this is the position of the state of Azerbaijan," said Aliyev.
He stated that Azerbaijan "will never forget the victims of Khojaly, the destroyed mosques and cultural objects, and the memory of these events, according to him, should be preserved by the vigilance of the Azerbaijani society."
Speaking about the Second Karabakh War, Aliyev also claimed that the Azerbaijani forces attacked only "military formations" and "never waged a war against unarmed civilians". According to him, it "corresponds to the mentality and customs of the Azerbaijani people".
"We had to take revenge on the battlefield, and we fully repaid for what happened. The blood of our martyrs was avenged," Aliyev said.
The President of Azerbaijan separately referred to the state of the mosques in the territories that were under the control of the Armenian forces. He stated that 65 mosques were completely destroyed, and some others were in a half-ruined state.
Aliyev also accused Armenia of allegedly keeping livestock, including pigs and cows, in mosques during the control of those territories, calling it "deliberate humiliation of Azerbaijanis and the entire Islamic world."
