(Baku, November 8, 2020)  –President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Supreme Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva visited the Alley of Honors and the Alley of Martyrs.

The head of state addressed the Azerbaijani people in the Alley of Martyrs.

First, President Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva paid tribute to the memory of great leader Heydar Aliyev in the Alley of Honors.
President Ilham Aliyev has laid a wreath at the monument to great leader Heydar Aliyev.
 

The National Anthem of Azerbaijan was played.

The President and his spouse also commemorated prominent ophthalmologist-scientist, academician Zarifa Aliyeva.

Flowers were laid at the graves of prominent statesman Aziz Aliyev and famous doctor-scientist Tamerlan Aliyev.

Then President Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva arrived at the Alley of Martyrs. The Head of State and the First Lady commemorated the heroic sons of the Motherland who gave their lives for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, and laid flowers at their graves.

President Ilham Aliyev has laid a wreath at the Eternal Torch monument.

The National Anthem of Azerbaijan was played.

The head of state addressed the Azerbaijani people in the Alley of Martyrs.

Address of the President of Azerbaijan, Muzaffar Supreme Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev to the people
-Dear compatriots, dear sisters and brothers!

I declare with great pride that the city of Shusha has been liberated from occupation! Shusha is ours! Garabagh is ours! I heartily congratulate all the people of Azerbaijan on this occasion. I heartily congratulate all the people of Shusha.

Shusha, which had been under occupation for twenty-eight and a half years, was liberated! Shusha is free now! We have returned to Shusha! We won this historic victory on the battlefield. November 8, 2020 will forever remain in the history of Azerbaijan. This history will live forever. This is the day of our glorious victory! We won this victory on the battlefield, not behind the negotiating table. I have said many times that, despite all the statements, there are military solutions to this conflict - the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and today we are proving it on the battlefield. Nearly 30 years of meaningless negotiations did not bring us to any conclusion. Our ancient historical lands have been under occupation for almost 30 years. In the process of negotiations, the Armenian side simply wanted to gain time, simply to strengthen the status quo, to perpetuate it. Over the years, signals sent to Azerbaijan from various power centers have repeatedly prompted us to reconcile with the situation. However, showing determination, courage and political will, we did not reach any agreement that did not meet the interests of the Azerbaijani people. I have repeatedly stated from all international forums that the restoration of our lands and territorial integrity is our main task, and we are fulfilling this task. Negotiations did not yield any results. They were just fooling us, they were just trying to freeze the issue. We won this victory on the battlefield, we won this victory by giving martyrs. May God have mercy on all our martyrs! I ask God's mercy and patience for all our martyrs who were killed in both the first Karabakh and the second Karabakh - the war we call the Homeland War. I wish God's healing to our wounded compatriots. We are liberating our lands from occupiers at the cost of the lives and blood of our people, soldiers and officers. We will expel and drive out the invaders from our lands!

Shusha was under occupation for 28 and a half years. Shusha has a special place in the history of Azerbaijan. This is our ancient, historic city. For centuries, Azerbaijanis have lived, built and created in Shusha. Shusha is a pearl not only of Azerbaijan, but of the whole Caucasus. However, by occupying Shusha, the hated enemy dealt a great blow to our cultural heritage, destroyed our historical monuments, destroyed our mosques and insulted us. We have now returned to Shusha. We will restore all our historical monuments, all mosques, and in 28 years the call to prayer will be heard in Shusha again. A few years ago, at the opening of a mosque built on my instructions in the Jojuq Marjanli settlement, which was liberated from occupation after the April 2016 fighting, I stated that this mosque is similar to the Shusha mosque, the same in size and architectural style. I said that one day we will restore our mosques destroyed by Armenian vandals in Shusha, and today is coming. Today, the Azerbaijani flag is flying in

Shusha. Today, all the people of Azerbaijan are proud to welcome this good news.

We are gathering strength, purposefully, tirelessly, in spite of all the pressures, and we are gathering strength. Economic power. If we did not have economic power, it would not be possible to achieve this victory. First of all, economic independence had to be secured and was secured. Today, Azerbaijan is economically dependent on no one, no country, no international financial institution. Independence and this allowed us to develop our country and at the same time strengthen our army. We buy all the military equipment and weapons needed for our Army from foreign markets. If we didn't have economic opportunities, how could we get them? By pursuing a successful policy within the country, I believe that we have created a very unique model of development for the world in our country. Our unity for internal solidarity, national unity, common cause gave us additional strength, did not allow some hated foreign circles to implement their ugly plans in Azerbaijan. However, there were such plans, there were such attempts. We have repulsed these attempts by showing political will and unity, we have defended our pride as a people, as a nation, we have defended our independent choice, and we have proved that no one can and will interfere in our work. Without this unity, without national solidarity, we would never have been able to liberate our lands from occupiers. The main goal of the black PR campaign against us over the years, the smear campaign, the slander campaign, was to remove us from our main task, to distance us, to drown us in internal problems, and to keep the occupied territories in the hands of the occupiers forever. Strong political will and the unity of the people and government overthrew these plans.

The third key factor in our victory is our success at the international level. We have proved to the whole world that Karabakh has always been the land of Azerbaijan. We have proved that the Azerbaijani people have lived in these lands for centuries. We have proved that the Armenian population was resettled to these lands 200 years ago, how it was resettled, for what purposes, we presented it all to the world community, with evidence and facts. We have proved that Nagorno-Karabakh is a historical, ancient land of Azerbaijan, and this issue must be resolved on the basis of the norms and principles of international law. All the world's leading organizations, all international organizations have adopted fair resolutions and decisions on the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Four resolutions of the UN Security Council, resolutions of the UN General Assembly, resolutions of the Non-Aligned Movement, resolutions of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, resolutions of the European Parliament and other international organizations unequivocally recognized Nagorno-Karabakh as an integral part of Azerbaijan. This gave us extra strength. If we did not do that, the processes surrounding the conflict today could cause us great problems. Over the years, we have been able to establish relations with many countries on the basis of sincere, businesslike, mutual respect, many countries consider Azerbaijan a strategic partner, and this expression is already reflected in international documents. We have been able to establish relations with all neighboring countries on the basis of sincere friendship, mutual respect and mutual trust. If we did not do that, a completely different process could have taken place around the conflict today.

When Shusha was occupied, our main problems were that we did not have an army and the leadership could not fulfill its duties. At the international level, Azerbaijan has strained relations with almost all countries. We were almost isolated. But today we have isolated Armenia. Our transnational projects have created a completely new landscape in the region. We have redesigned the energy map and transport map of the region. The projects implemented on our initiative not only meet the interests of our people, but also the interests of many countries, including the countries of the region. We have both bilateral and trilateral cooperation formats with neighboring countries. All this has greatly strengthened Azerbaijan's international prestige. Without these achievements, the problem could remain frozen.

Finally and, first of all, army building. During these 17 years, the main part of my work has been devoted to army building, how to strengthen our army, to equip our army with the most modern weapons. It was not an easy task either. Material resources alone are not enough to buy those weapons. At the same time, diplomatic and political efforts must be made, and we have achieved this. Today, Azerbaijan provides its military supplies from many countries. At the same time, the defense industry was established in Azerbaijan on my initiative. We meet the needs of our army largely through domestic production. Azerbaijan produces more than 1,000 types of military products, including the most modern. This is our activity. Building the army, solving the material problems of servicemen, solving the living problems of retired servicemen by the state, providing them with apartments, improving the working conditions of our servicemen. We have rebuilt almost all our military camps and military bases, and they meet the highest standards. Of course, first of all, combat capability. The ability to fight has increased. Repeated military parades on Freedom Square have shown the world our strength.

Increasing combat capability is a key factor in army building. We use modern weapons, we use technology, we destroy enemy equipment. Only Azerbaijani soldiers liberate our lands, Azerbaijani officers liberate them, they are soldiers who chase the enemy with a flag and a weapon in their hands, and soldiers who destroy the enemy. Love to our soldiers!

We have created such an army! We said to the occupiers, we said, go straight, end the occupation, it's not too late. Therefore, our policy at all times was unequivocal. We have said that if the issue is not resolved peacefully, we will resolve the issue militarily. I have said this many times. Therefore, I have been criticized by some countries. I said that our lands were not occupied by military means? Has Armenia occupied our lands peacefully? Every country has the right to self-defense. This right is given to us by the UN Charter.

I said that if I see that the talks are completely ineffective, we will have no other choice. Let everyone know - the enemy, his supporters and the mediators involved in this matter.

I have always kept my word. I did what I told the Azerbaijani people. I kept my word on this issue and we are already celebrating the Victory.

Since September 27, more than 200 cities, villages and settlements have been liberated. In particular, the city of Fizuli, completely destroyed, did not leave a single safe building, a hated enemy. Gabriel was completely destroyed. Gubadli, Zangilan were completely destroyed. Villages, cities. Hadrut settlement, Sugovushan settlement and today Shusha city.

Our victory march continues. There are still occupied lands, there are still wars. If the Armenian leadership does not meet my requirements, we will go to the end. No one can stop us. There is no force in the world that can stop us. Armenia has already admitted its bitter defeat, humiliating itself and insulting its people. The Armenian leadership now wants help from other countries, military assistance, weapons and equipment. Where is your invincible army? We destroyed it. All their words, all their statements were myths, were lies. The invincible army is the Azerbaijani Army! He shows this on the battlefield, expelling the enemy from the lands alone. Billions of dollars have been spent over thirty years, fortifications have been built, and engineering facilities have been built. But we have destroyed and destroyed them all - at the expense of spiritual spirit, strength, unity!

I want to say again that our victory march continues. Enemy forces must be withdrawn from all occupied territories. This is our demand. International norms and principles, decisions and resolutions of international organizations require it.

Dear sisters and brothers, today I am giving this good news to my native people here in the Alley of Martyrs. This is not accidental. This is natural. Today, I bow once again to the souls of our martyrs. Today I declare that the blood of our martyrs does not remain on the ground. The blood of the victims of Armenian atrocities, the victims of Khojaly, does not remain on the ground. We took our revenge on the battlefield. We have never fought a war against civilians, and we have never fought this time. Although the hated enemy killed 93 civilians with indiscriminate fire, more than 400 civilians were wounded. But I said no, we are Azerbaijanis! We will and will take our revenge on the battlefield!

We have destroyed their army, we have destroyed their equipment, we are destroying and we will destroy. We will roast and drive out the enemy!

Today, at the same time, I visited the grave of the great leader Heydar Aliyev and bowed to his spirit. I said in my heart that I was happy to have fulfilled my father's will. We liberated Shusha! This is a great victory! The souls of our martyrs, the Great Leader, are happy today! Let your eyes be clear Azerbaijan! Let your eyes be clear, Azerbaijanis of the world!

These days I receive thousands of letters from Azerbaijanis around the world and people living in Azerbaijan. Thousands of letters every day. I just regret that I can't read all these letters. There is simply not enough time. What wonderful words, what great support. Today we prove to the whole world that we are a great nation, we are a proud nation!

We are an invincible people! We show the enemy's place on the battlefield!

These days, I have repeatedly appealed to the people of Azerbaijan and punched and punched the enemy. I said that this fist is not such a fist. This is an iron fist. We will crush and crush the head of the enemy with this iron fist! At the same time, this fist is a symbol of our unity. Today, the people of Azerbaijan are united like this fist! It will always be so!

This unity will last forever! This union will allow us to fulfill all our responsibilities in the future. During all these years - for 17 years - I have felt the support of the Azerbaijani people, I have seen, I have seen their trust and good attitude towards me. It gives me strength. This is an invaluable support for my policy. I have always assured the people of

Azerbaijan that I will serve my homeland and my people with dignity and loyalty. I am glad that I kept my word. As always, I have kept my word.

Giving this good news to the people of Azerbaijan on this historic day is perhaps one of the happiest days of my life.

Dear Shusha, you are free!

Dear Shusha, we are back!

Dear Shusha, we will revive you!

Shusha is ours! Garabagh is ours! Karabakh is Azerbaijan!