Six to eight enemy servicemen were killed and many others were wounded - President Ilham Aliyev

(MENAFN- Trend News Agency)

BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 12

Trend:

Azerbaijani armed forces have taken decisive measures to punish the criminals, and today, according to the information I received from the Minister of Defense, six to eight enemy servicemen were killed and many others were wounded, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said in an interview with local TV channels on January 12, 2022, Trend reports.

'Given the fact of occupation, the issue of army building has always been at the top of my agenda. This topic has always dominated my work schedule, public speeches and contacts with colleagues. Of course, this topic united our entire nation and we all tried to secure the restoration of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity. It is no coincidence that when we reviewed and prepared the state budget, I always ordered that the biggest expenditures should be allocated for army building. This, among other factors, proved correct. As for the current stage, I did speak about that and you rightly reminded me of my own words that we should not stop for a number of factors. First of all, unfortunately, there are strong revanchist sentiments in Armenia, both in the government and in the opposition, and also in society. Unfortunately, we are seeing this in real life. Just yesterday, another military provocation was committed against Azerbaijani servicemen. As a result of this baseless aggression, an Azerbaijani serviceman was killed. It is not the first time this has happened since the war. Unfortunately, Armenia did not learn the lesson from all our previous punitive measures. Yesterday's incident is no exception. The Azerbaijani Armed Forces have taken decisive measures to punish the criminals, and today, according to the information I received from the Minister of Defense, six to eight enemy servicemen were killed and many others were wounded. Shortly after this incident, the Armenian side began to insistently request a ceasefire. However, they must understand that the death of an Azerbaijani serviceman will never be forgiven. Despite numerous requests from the Armenian side, I would even say pleas – since this incident took place not in the area of responsibility of Russian peacekeepers, but in the direction of Kalbajar – and also despite the requests of Russian peacekeepers, I ordered the Defense Minister at 21:30 to cease fire and let the Armenian side collect their numerous wounded servicemen. In other words, both this incident and all previous incidents ended in this way – crimes, provocations, covert provocations, punitive measures by the Azerbaijani side, and then pleas for a ceasefire. As a result, Azerbaijan has once again demonstrated humanism, but only after we came to the conclusion that the punitive operation should be stopped,' the head of state said.

'In fact, this explains why we continue the army building process. There are a number of aspects here. First of all, of course, we used up a lot of the ammunition during the war, so we have to replenish that now, and the new contacts signed will provide us with this opportunity. The supply of weapons and ammunition is already underway. The next issue is the purchase of modern weapons systems of different types. We have always attached great importance to this issue. Military technology is evolving fast and we always want to get the best equipment available. As you know, we do not have a problem with the number of parties interested in selling weapons to us. The third issue is to increase the combat capability of the Armed Forces. The second Karabakh war is not only a great victory for us, it is also a great experience in the field of operations. It has been a practical test of the Armed Forces not in training, but in real operations, and our Armed Forces came out of this test with dignity. However, the second Karabakh war also showed us what to do next, what elements of the military infrastructure we did not use, used in a very limited manner or that they were weak. This is also a great experience. For obvious reasons, I can't say more now. The creation of a commando force is just one of the elements of improving our military capabilities, but it is also a very important element. This process has begun and, as I have already said, will be continued,' the Azerbaijani president said.

'Our special forces showed their best during the second Karabakh war. I have said this many times. Therefore, the improvement of these forces, as well as the creation of a new special force, is a necessity dictated by the situation. We are talking about attempts at exacting revenge. The point is that we do not know what will happen in a year, two or five years. Today, the Armenian army is in a completely dilapidated state and is incapable of resisting us on a scale greater than in the second Karabakh war. We are closely following all military-building efforts in Armenia both with their own forces and with the help of their partners. Therefore, I have sincerely and openly stated that if we see even the slightest threat to our security, we will immediately crush it no matter where it is and no matter how deep it is in the territory of Armenia. Everyone, first of all, the Armenian leadership should know and understand this,' President Ilham Aliyev said.

'Therefore, as a result of the measures we are taking, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces will become even stronger than they were during the second Karabakh war. However, as we all know, the experts and the public of a number of countries do not conceal their admiration with what we demonstrated during the war. This unexpected and explicit admiration, of course, made all of us feel very proud of ourselves. But at the same time, we must not become complacent or arrogant, as they say, and not repeat the mistakes of the Armenian side, which considers themselves to be great fighters but actually set a new record in the sprint. Of course, this will not happen, but in any case my actions now, including those within the framework of army building, are aimed at keeping our feet on the ground. We have done what is necessary, and we have done it with dignity, honor and justice. And now we must think about the future and the ability of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces to protect our people and state from all possible threats. In my opinion, a lot has happened in the year since the war, and this has shown – not only in relation to Armenia – that we are able to defend ourselves properly,' the head of state said.

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