The three clowns who called themselves “president” were sitting here and challenging us, threatening and insulting us. We approached this issue with restraint and patience, as we do with everything else,” said President Ilham Aliyev as he made a speech after raising the national flag of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the city of Khankendi.

“Because we knew that we would come here. I knew that. Exactly 20 years ago, on October 15, 2003, I made that promise to the people of Azerbaijan and to myself. Yes, we waited for 20 years, or rather for 17 years. Three years ago, our flag was raised in Shusha,” the head of state noted.

“However, we have achieved what we wanted, fulfilled the decades-long wishes of the Azerbaijani people. We have restored the dignity of the Azerbaijani people. We have returned to our lands, we have restored our territorial integrity, and at the same time, we have restored our dignity,” President Ilham Aliyev added.