Second anniversary of Great Victory Fresh hues of greatness, thoughts on future perspectives

On November 8, we all celebrate the great date - Victory Day. For every Azerbaijani citizen, as well as the compatriots living abroad, this is a special, let's not be afraid of this word, holy day. After all, it has become for all of us not only an indicator of the strength, firmness and the state-people unity, but also our fulfilled spiritual dream, the quintessence of hopes, dreams and efforts, the result the winner’s  triumph who liberated his native lands!

They say that with time emotions and colours of feelings fade, and you look at many things more calmly. But it seems to us there is something that will never fade in people's souls - and our Victory is a vivid confirmation of that. It was not an easy victory, unfortunately, on its altar was laid the lives of around three thousand of our soldiers, mainly young men who could now live among us, work, study, create families, bring up their children... But they have none of this and will never have it. All we are left with is a blessed memory, the portraits of the martyrs we so often see on the streets of cities and in various villages, and a clear feeling that we must live and develop Azerbaijan so that their souls will rejoice in heaven...

The victory in the Patriotic War marked both the military and political triumph and the national-civil unity of Azerbaijan. It was not an accident - the whole course of historical events showed that we deserved it. We deserved it first of all by the fact that we did not put up with the pain of loss for 28 years, by the fact that seven districts were taken away from our country, making about one million people displaced from their homelands. The patriots of the country (like our glorious Warrior-Ensign Mubariz Ibragimov) every day, looking at the setting sun, thought that there, in the west, our lands are trampled by the enemy, and it should never happen again...

Think about it - most of those young soldiers who liberated Karabakh and Eastern Zangazur had never seen those lands, they were either born after these lands had been occupied by Armenians, or they were just children. But despite this, the Azerbaijani state raised them as patriots, those who were not afraid to go to the Armenian fortifications in the mountains, who passed through the forests and rocks and did what seemed impossible! But some external players were persistently trying to persuade us "to accept", "to forget", "to accept that these lands are lost forever", putting Azerbaijan - the victim of occupation - on the same level as the occupant Armenia, applying double standards... These statements were in unison with the intentions of Armenians and their supporting diaspora not to return an inch of land to Azerbaijan, delaying negotiations and carrying out their outright imitation!

But they have forgotten the role of the Person in history. In 2003, Azerbaijan was headed by the young but perfectly educated politician Ilham Aliyev, who in his difficult work remembered the testament of the national leader Heydar Aliyev to restore the territorial integrity of our homeland. From the first days of his presidency, along with diplomatic efforts, the head of state paid great attention to the development of a new type of army, the army of winners. It was a comprehensive process - first it was necessary to create a solid economic, financial and material-technical basis of the country, and only then, relying on it, reach new heights of development. In this regard there were no trifles, it was not enough just to purchase modern weapons, at first it was necessary to find allies who were ready to sell them, to prepare and train professional officers, to conduct extensive patriotic and educational work with the soldiers, educating a generation of winners. Our decisive responses to Armenian provocations at the beginning of April 2016, including the liberation of the Lalatapa height, the liberation of Sharur District’s Gunnut village in Nakhchivan and the surrounding territories from the Armenian occupation clearly showed that the Azerbaijani army is on the right track in its development.

So the Patriotic War, which began on September 27 as a response to Armenian provocations, was both unexpected and expected for Azerbaijan. It was unexpected in terms of the suddenness of the Armenian attack, but expected in terms of the fact that we understood that Armenia would commit such sabotage and provocations. And the Azerbaijani army went on a counteroffensive, straightening up and crushing the enemy like a severely compressed spring! This impulse, this fusion of the people's will, bravery, military skill and irrepressible desire to move forward was a complete surprise for Armenians - their front, their lauded "Ohanyan line" collapsed, and the retreat of the Armenian armed forces turned into a panic flight.

We, eyewitnesses of those glorious 44 days, will never forget them, we will not forget the wave of patriotic enthusiasm, the queues of volunteers at the military registration office, the daily joy of the liberation of our native land. People were looking forward to speeches by Supreme Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev listing the liberated settlements, praying for the successes of our soldiers, waiting for news from the front and rejoicing at the achievements of soldiers and officers who went forward and forward... In those days, in my thoughts about the liberating soldiers, I, and I think many, remembered the words of writer and war correspondent Vasily Grossman: "The iron wind was blowing in their faces, but they kept marching forward, and again a sense of superstitious fear overwhelmed the enemy: Were the men attacking? Are they mortal?!"...

Indeed, the movement of the Azerbaijani Army forward was an indomitable tsunami wave, and the video footage of strikes on the enemy that were distributed by the Defence Ministry, in which we saw enemy combat vehicles and manpower exploding, reinforced our belief that Victory was near. The Bayraktar drones that destroyed the enemy, carried out reconnaissance and corrected artillery fire were undoubtedly one of the stars of the Patriotic War, causing a furor in the world of combat equipment and a radical revolution in the minds of the military all over the world.

But drones, even the best in the world, do not fight by themselves - the main and indisputable force of the Victory was the Azerbaijani servicemen, soldiers and officers, led by Ilham Aliyev. It is their sweat and blood, their efforts and sacrifices, their unprecedented military feat and the historic storming of the Shusha city with light weapons were placed on the altar of Victory, becoming a gracious fire in the hearts and souls of the Azerbaijani people, which still warms and illuminates the path of our country …

...We think that time will never be able to make the victory in the Patriotic War less significant for the Azerbaijani people. Years, decades, centuries will pass, but the importance of the feat of Azerbaijani soldiers will increase in the minds of future generations, and the name of Ilham Aliyev will certainly be in all history books as the name of the President - Liberator, the one who was able, despite the huge foreign pressure and military difficulties, to liberate the territory of his country from occupation.

We are a happy generation because we saw this Victory, experienced the happiness of the return of our native land, we see how much is being done now to revive and restore it! We are happy that we no longer celebrate the black dates of occupation of one district or another, as before, from year to year, but we celebrate the days of their liberation. Blessed is also the fact that the heroes of this war, war veterans, those who contributed to the victory, are with us, and now actively participate in the public life of the country, we will see them today on the streets in uniform, with medals, as it is supposed to be on the holiday... Eternal memory to those who did not live to see Victory Day, who gave their lives for the people, for our future, for the bright future of the country... And we must bow to their memory, to the parents who raised such patriots, and continue to take care of their widows and children.

November 8 is a holiday with a note of sorrow, with respect for the memory of martyrs and, at the same time, a triumph of the Azerbaijani people and state, something that gives us strength to move forward. Each of us must not forget that the sacred land of Karabakh and Eastern Zangazur was bathed in the blood of martyrs. And if Azerbaijan was able to liberate these lands in a single rush, and is now restoring them on such a large scale, then we can be proud of ourselves - we, as a nation and a state, can handle the most enormous tasks, and November 8 will always be a living embodiment of this.