Ilham Aliyev: People of Azerbaijan will live in liberated lands forever

“Meetings with former IDPs are now completely different,” Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said at a meeting with members of the general public of Khojavand district on Oct. 9, Report informs.

“As you may know, I have met with IDPs several times a year since 2003, both at the opening ceremonies – because more than 100 settlements have been built and I have inaugurated every single one of them – and at other events. In recent years, I have seen that their hopes were dashed, which was natural. How many years can one wait? The Minsk Group traveled back and forth for so many years, made offers the Armenians did not accept. Frankly speaking, we were deceived for many years. I could not tell them. Even during the war, when I gave many interviews, I could not talk about our plans in full. Because it was a military secret. Our main goal was to win a complete victory and raise our flag in Shusha. I can say now that this task was set from the first day of the war, and we have achieved this task,” the head of state said.

“I understand the suffering of the IDPs very well. Because I am probably someone who has been in contact with the former IDPs the most in Azerbaijan. In order to live up to their hopes, to fulfill this historic mission before them and to return them to the land of their ancestors, we had to mobilize all our resources under the slogan ‘There is no going back even if we die!’. We had to go forward with this slogan and we did. Today, there is no such thing as an IDP. Today, former IDPs are preparing to return home. This is the first visit to Khojavand and there will be more such visits. Just as we finished the war in a short time, we will try to finish the restoration work as soon as possible, so that you can return to this heavenly place. Every location is a paradise for us. The people of Azerbaijan will live in the liberated lands forever.”