Ambassador: Liberation of Azerbaijani lands paved way for peace in South Caucasus

Ending the military occupation has paved a clear way for lasting peace, stability and economic development in the South Caucasus, Azerbaijani Ambassador to Serbia Kamil Khasiyev said.

Report's Balkan bureau informs that he made the remarks at an official reception held in Belgrade on the occasion of June 26 – Armed Forces Day of Azerbaijan.

"After Azerbaijan restored its independence in 1991, our Armed Forces once again had to fight on the battlefield to defend the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity," he said.

The diplomat also drew attention to the fact that one million Azerbaijanis became refugees and internally displaced persons as a result of Armenia's military aggression in the early 1990s.

"As a result of this aggression, thousands of people were killed or are still missing. For 27 years, that country ignored four UN Security Council resolutions demanding the immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of all its forces from the occupied territories. In 2020, Azerbaijan's valiant Armed Forces launched a counteroffensive operation and liberated the occupied territories. The country's territorial integrity was fully restored," he said.

Khasiyev noted that Azerbaijan has been carrying out large-scale reconstruction and restoration work in the liberated territories over the past several years.

He recalled that immediately after the end of military operations, Azerbaijan proposed signing a peace treaty with Armenia.

"During the trilateral meeting held in Washington on August 8 this year between US President Donald Trump, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, a Joint Declaration was signed, and the draft Peace Agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia was initialed by the foreign ministers of both countries," he said.