There is a difference between the preparation at that time and now: back then we had nothing in our past to promise us a victory. The first Karabakh war had ended in defeat. We had lost a significant amount of territory. There were no chronicles of triumph to refer to and be inspired by in recent and distant history.
But now we have the Army that hoisted the flag over Shusha, the State that liberated Kalbajar, Aghdam, and Lachin without a fight. The Azerbaijani nation has regained its faith. Fear, indecision, distrust are gone, replaced by confidence.
Since the beginning of September, Azerbaijanis have once again geared up for war. There are rumors about the imminent start of hostilities. The people are morally and psychologically ready for another battle. The public wants to put an end to the conflict that has been going on for more than 30 years. Our people are sick and tired of the Armenians provoking and dragging us into military clashes at every chance. Everyone understands that separatism in Azerbaijan must be eradicated once and for all. Everyone knows that the way to achieve this is through military operations.
Armenia continues its provocations even now. Every day it violates the ceasefire. From Kalbajar to Nakhchivan, from Shusha to Lachin, the enemy opens fire on our positions on the border.
Azerbaijan must liberate its historical territories from occupation. The events and processes we are witnessing are essentially steps towards the restoration of our statehood. We are living through historic days…
Meanwhile, there have been reports that Iran has ordered its army to prepare for an attack on Azerbaijan. This statement was made by the Institute of Russian Studies in Ankara.
Reportedly, army units stationed in northwestern Iran have been ordered to be ready for an offensive in the event of any incursion by Azerbaijan into Armenian territory near the Iranian border.
Note that information was circulated that Iranian Shahed 171 drones had carried out a reconnaissance flight on the conditional border between Azerbaijan and Armenia at night on September 7.
It is hard to say yet whether this information is credible or not. Since we have always seen malice and insidiousness from Iran, we immediately believe this kind of news. Tensions in the relations between Azerbaijan and Iran have not completely dissipated in the past year.
Recently, however, we have been witnessing a thaw in Iran-Azerbaijan relations. We hear it in the language of officials. In his interview with the Israeli international i24 TV channel, Hikmet Hajiyev, Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan, Head of Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration, said that Azerbaijan is receiving positive messages from Iran about the normalization of relations between the two countries.
Iranian Tasnim news agency reported that a meeting of the joint military commission of Azerbaijan and Iran would be held in Baku on September 9. We will soon find out what is true and what is not in this contradictory stream of information.
If Azerbaijan does not fully restore its territorial integrity, stable peace in the region will be impossible to achieve. The goal is Zangezur, the restoration of Northern Azerbaijan. This concept includes the liberation of our historical lands from occupation. The sound of Azerbaijani soldier’s boots is already coming from the mountains of Goycha. These boots are driven into the Zangezur lands. We have established our presence in Kalbajar, Lachin, Zangilan, Gubadli—critical areas bordering Armenia and Iran.
The outlines of the map of the new world are also being drawn here. A new order is being established. Major geopolitical integration processes have been launched. The new world order shows the relevance of the East. Major global players have already come a long way in this process. Regional and global players, too, need the integrity of the northern part of Azerbaijan, restoration of its historical territories, peace and tranquility in the South Caucasus. We seized this historic chance three years ago. Great opportunities have opened up for us once again. We must finish the unfinished work. And we will.
Azer Aykhan
Translated from Globalinfo.az
