Azerbaijan warns: "Decisive Response-2" will be even more painful Yerevan risks falling into its own trap

On the night of September 13, 2022, the Armenian Armed Forces mounted a large-scale armed provocation in the Dashkesan, Kalbajar, Lachin, and Zangilan directions of the Azerbaijani-Armenian conditional border, which led to serious military clashes. This was the first major escalation after Azerbaijan's victory in the 44-day war, i.e. in the post-conflict period. In fact, what happened was nothing more than an upsurge of the long-restrained revanchist aspirations of official Yerevan and a significant part of Armenian society.

The clashes of September 2022 are, on the one hand, a battlefield test and, on the other hand, a frantic attempt by Armenia to change the established balance of power in the region. The enemy's provocation was, of course, swiftly and successfully stopped by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces units, and all Armenia achieved was another humiliating defeat after the crushing blow of the "Iron Fist".

However, even after the unsuccessful efforts of the September provocation, Yerevan did not draw the proper conclusions and did not realise that if the country chose the path of provocation and war, it should be ready for new losses and peace enforcement. But it seems that Armenia is destined to keep falling into the same trap since each new provocation with the use of heavy weapons results in painful losses for Armenia.

Just like in the autumn of 2022, today it is trying to get third countries involved in the conflict with false propaganda and endless complaints. Last year Armenia, which is a member of military bloc CSTO, was relying on its co-member Russia. Now it is counting on the help of the West.

However, the responsibility for the new explosive situation in the region once again lies with Yerevan. Ilham Aliyev, the President of Azerbaijan and Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the country's Armed Forces, pointed this out a year ago, speaking at an operational meeting with the Azerbaijani army command in connection with Armenia's provocation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.

Moreover, the statements of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, particularly those made by him during his speech at the Vladivostok Economic Forum on September 7, 2022, clearly showed that Armenia has purposefully pursued and is pursuing a provocative policy in the region.

At that time, he actually spoke out about a possible escalation in the South Caucasus, expressing his "concern" about this fact, which, as it turned out a few days later, became a harbinger of subsequent military clashes. In other words, this clearly confirms that Armenia is preparing for revenge and is creating a political, military, and information base for this purpose.

The following facts eloquently testify to this. Firstly, in the post-war period, Armenia, waging a campaign against Azerbaijan in the international arena, sabotaged all initiatives and efforts undertaken to ensure peace talks, security in the region, and the opening of communications. It practically evaded the provisions of the Trilateral Statement signed on November 10, 2020.

Secondly, literally since the beginning of the post-conflict period, Yerevan has been ratcheting up tensions in the region by all available methods. For example, weapons and personnel of gang formations were smuggled from the Republic of Armenia to Karabakh. This continued until Azerbaijan stopped it by installing a checkpoint on the Lachin road.

Thirdly, it is not by chance that the leadership of the "country of stones" has started buying weapons from different countries. At the same time, Yerevan seeks to build new military facilities on the border with Azerbaijan, to form a springboard for a future attack in the direction of Kalbajar and Lachin.

For its part, Azerbaijan has repeatedly exposed Armenia's revanchist policy at various international levels, citing specific facts and warning the Armenian authorities of possible dire consequences for them. It is appropriate to remind them of more than a harsh response to their provocation in July 2020 in the direction of the Tovuz region.

By the way, we would like to remind you how on July 14, 2020, Baku hosted a multi-thousand march in support of the Armed Forces and the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. Tens of thousands of young people who responded to the call of President Ilham Aliyev applied to the departments of the State Service for Mobilisation and Recruitment for Military Service, expressing their desire to voluntarily go to the area of military operations.

The five-day battles of Tovuz became a herald of further combat successes of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, the crowning achievement of which was the liberation of Azerbaijani lands from the yoke of Armenian invaders.

Thus, every new Armenian adventure turns out to be a failure for Armenia. Azerbaijani army's victorious march through all 44 days of the war is proof of that.

The victory was not easy for us. We saw thousands of dead soldiers and civilians, and a lot of destruction in towns and villages, but we liberated our native land. The blood of our soldiers and officers was not shed in vain. We will no longer allow anyone to invade our territories with invasive aims. Any provocation will be prevented.