Baku ready for peace, but Armenia drifts toward conflict under Western influence President Aliyev’s speech in Parliament

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, addressing the first session of the Milli Majlis (Parliament) of the seventh convocation on September 23, voiced the most important tasks facing the country. The head of state particularly emphasized the importance of strengthening the country's military potential.

“The number one priority is to increase our military strength. Although the Second Karabakh War and the anti-terror operation are now in the past, the processes going on in the world, new conflicts, the emergence of war zones and the increase of tensions around us, at the same time, the revengeful tendencies in Armenia compel us to keep this area in the spotlight at all times,” the president said, thereby outlining one of the main priorities of Azerbaijan's state policy.

This message of President Aliyev confirms that the active militarisation of Armenia by France, the United States and India pursues one goal - preparation for a new war with Azerbaijan. Accordingly, this obliges Baku to constantly pay increased attention to its defence capabilities.

The following statement of the President also suggests such a conclusion: “However, if we reduce our attention to the military field and do not ensure the appropriate level of funding for it, problems may await us in the future.”

The likelihood of a new military conflict in the region is significantly increased by the strengthening of the US strategic partnership with Armenia, under the pretext of which Washington conducts military exercises with Yerevan, thereby raising the level of the Armenian Armed Forces. In this regard, it is worth recalling that from September 9 to 20, Kansas Army National Guard servicemen conducted an “exchange of experience in improving the qualifications” of sergeants with the Armenian Armed Forces. The Kansas Army National Guard implemented the Phoenix Platoon program, aimed at developing professional sergeant personnel and exchanging best practices in mission planning and management. Despite the publicly declared desire to help achieve peace in the region, the US is actually preparing Armenia for a new war with Azerbaijan.

Obviously, the United States cannot accept the fact that Azerbaijan has independently restored its territorial integrity and sovereignty. For this reason, a broad anti-Azerbaijani campaign has been launched in the West.

President Aliyev did mention this moment as well.

“Foreign circles unable to digest our Victory are preparing new plans against us. There is no need to elaborate further on this. But the obtained data is evidence of that. This is exactly the purpose of the media campaign, the aspersion, libel and defamation campaigns - to keep this topic on the daily agenda and live with the hope that one day if Azerbaijan stumbles or weakens, these ugly actions against us will start again. In other words, we should be aware of that. The government of Azerbaijan knows this, and the public should know this too. Therefore, we have no right to be complacent,” President Aliyev said.

The president also noted that revengeful forces are raising their head in Armenia.

“These are not only marginal political elements. Today's Armenian government lives with these ideas and fantasies as well,” President Aliyev went on. 

Emphasizing that Armenia does not want to come to terms with the results of the Second Karabakh War and the anti-terror operation, the head of state said: “Although they are saying one thing, their work, policies and steps create a completely opposite picture. The formal keeping of the Minsk Group, which has had no functional significance to date, is proof of this.”

The head of state once again emphasized that Azerbaijan's conditions towards Armenia remain unchanged: “Naturally, official territorial claims against us should be stopped. Their constitution should be amended and the Minsk group should be abolished.”

However, as we know, Armenia is evading Baku's just demands, betting on revenge and military and financial support of its new patrons in the face of the United States and France.

“America is now giving them 250 million dollars. They will use this money for their internal purposes, while the saved money will be used to buy weapons to kill us. Who bears this responsibility and who will bear it in the future? Those giving them this money, including the so-called 'European Peace Facility'. Look at the level of hypocrisy. The fund is intended for weapons and they call it the Peace Facility, Armenia uses it and gets free weapons from France. And this money is not paid either, from other places. So this is a serious matter and I would not like to talk too much about it. Simply put, our terms remain in place. Those arming Armenia should bear in mind that they will be directly responsible for all future developments,” President Aliyev said.

The head of state emphasized that the military power of Azerbaijan and Armenia is not comparable.

“In the time after the Second Karabakh War, we have significantly increased our military capacity, new armed units have been created and the number of special forces has been increased several times. New special forces and commando units have been set up, and their number will increase year by year,” President Aliyev said.

At the same time, the president drew attention to the fact that Azerbaijan's international positions have significantly strengthened in recent years.

“In the last three to four years, the international positions of our country have further strengthened. We have succeeded in having the results of the Second Karabakh War and the anti-terror operation acknowledged by the whole world,” the president said, emphasizing that independent, principled foreign policy is the main direction of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan is increasing the number of its friends on all continents. Serious contacts are being established with regional powers, new opportunities for cooperation in various spheres are being created, relations with traditional partners are being strengthened.

Of course, Armenia, putting aside its revanchist and expansionist policies, could also seize a unique chance to improve its country's development by signing a peace agreement with Azerbaijan and following Baku's peace agenda. Unfortunately, this is not happening so far. On the contrary, we are watching how Yerevan, following the orders of its new masters, is bringing the country closer to collapse with each passing day, without drawing conclusions from the sad past. The worse for Armenia itself.

Baku once again shows that it is ready for any scenario of events, but still leaves a chance for Yerevan to come to its senses. In his speech today, on September 23, the Azerbaijani leader once again placed the necessary emphasis on the main priorities of Baku's peace agenda. It is up to Armenia to follow them or refuse.