President: In April 1920, the Russian army invaded Azerbaijan and occupied it

In April 1920, the Russian army invaded Azerbaijan and occupied it, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said in an interview with Al Arabiya TV channel, Report informs via AZERTAC.

The head of state noted that when the Russian Empire collapsed in 1917, Azerbaijan established the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic.

"It was the first democratic republic in the Muslim world, established in May 1918. It existed until April 1920, when the Russian army invaded Azerbaijan and occupied it. The Bolsheviks, who made a revolution in 1917, lied to the people. Their slogans were “factories to workers, land to farmers, freedom to the peoples.” We established our own state, but the Bolsheviks took it from us," he said.

The Azerbaijani leader noted that in April 1920, when the Russian army invaded Azerbaijan and occupied it.

"In November 1920, just several months after that, the Soviet Russian government decided to take Zangezur — what we call Western Zangezur — from Azerbaijan and give it to Armenia. That’s how Azerbaijan became divided into two: the mainland and Nakhchivan, with Western Zangezur in between. During Soviet times, it was not a problem because there were no borders and no wars. People could travel freely by car or by railroad from the mainland to Nakhchivan. But after Armenia launched aggression against Azerbaijan, they cut that connection line. They cut the corridor," the head of state said.