President Aliyev: During years of Armenian occupation Azerbajan always felt support of Arab brothers

President Ilham Aliyev has said that Azerbaijan is a country which also suffered like Algeria from occupation for 30 years.

He made the remarks at the 31st Arab League Summit in Algeria on November 1, Caliber.Az reports, citing his press service.

"Our lands were occupied by Armenia, and during all these years of occupation we always felt the support of our Arab brothers, we felt the support of member states of the Organization of Islamic States," Aliyev said.

He added that Azerbaijan, for its part, contributed largely to Islamic Solidarity, 2017 was declared in Azerbaijan the year of Islamic Solidarity, and the 4th Islamic Solidarity Games were held in the country.

President Aliyev went on to say that during the times of occupation, more than one million Azerbaijanis became refugees and IDPs, and the Azerbaijani was subjected to ethnic cleansing by Armenia. 

The Azerbaijani president also recalled the brutality and mass atrocities committed by France against the people of Algeria.

"France conducted a terrible war against the Algerian people for more than 130 years which resulted in the deaths of more than one and a half million Algerians. Today, commemorating this tragedy, we need to do everything in order to avoid these tragedies in the future," he said.