President: Azerbaijan's unbending resolve ensured territorial integrity

Azerbaijan's unbending resolve ensured the country's territorial integrity, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev stated at a meeting with representatives of the Khojaly district community as part of the opening ceremony of the Khojaly Genocide Memorial in Khojaly town on February 26, Report informs.

"There are not too many countries in the world that would win a complete and absolute victory in a just war and ensure their territorial integrity and sovereignty by liberating every inch of land, and then bring war criminals to justice. We did this - the state of Azerbaijan did. Our determination, I can actually say, our unbending resolve ensured this," the president highlighted.

"The people of Azerbaijan know perfectly well how much pressure and threats we were subjected to during the occupation. During the occupation, we were often given signals that we should come to terms with that reality, that Azerbaijan would not be able to liberate its lands, that the great powers, the patrons of Armenia, would not allow this to happen, and that the Azerbaijan Army would not be able to win on the battlefield. Such far-fetched speculation was spread in the broad information space and was conveyed to the leadership of Azerbaijan through various channels. But there was no force that could influence our determination, and we had repeatedly stated this. During the occupation, I stated both from authoritative international platforms and during numerous meetings with the then displaced persons that we would not put up with the occupation and that if the issue was not resolved through negotiations, we would restore our territorial integrity by military means - and that is exactly what happened," he said.