“Armenia violated all norms and principles of international law by occupying approximately 20 percent of our lands, conducting ethnic cleansing, committing the Khojaly genocide, and destroying all our cities and villages. Has any official representative of a Western state ever criticized them? No,” said President Ilham Aliyev during a meeting with residents in the city of Jabrayil.

The President also stated that the Minsk Group was merely covering up these issues, partially justifying the Armenian occupation, and pushing Azerbaijan toward a humiliating peace. “When we raised our voice for justice on all international platforms, we were told that our words were too harsh. This sharp rhetoric does not bring peace closer; it pushes it further away. There is no military solution to this conflict. In other words, France and other Western states like it were doing everything they could to make this occupation permanent.”