On May 10, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev met with families relocating to the first residential complex in the city of Zangilan and presented them with the keys to their new apartments.

The head of state delivered a speech at the meeting.

Speech by President Ilham Aliyev

- Today is a very beautiful and remarkable day for the residents of Zangilan. After a long hiatus, you are returning to your native land—to the city of Zangilan. I sincerely congratulate you on this occasion.

Today is the birthday of National Leader Heydar Aliyev, and it carries symbolic meaning that our meeting is being held precisely on this day. The greatest dream of National Leader Heydar Aliyev was the liberation of our native lands from occupation. We—his successors—have fulfilled his testament. Today, every inch of land within the territory of Azerbaijan belongs to the Azerbaijani people. By expelling the occupiers from our lands, we have restored our territorial integrity and sovereignty.

The role of National Leader Heydar Aliyev in the history of Azerbaijan is undeniable. As a result of his activities, Azerbaijan was able to preserve its independence during those difficult years. As you know—and as the older generation remembers well—in 1993, not only our territorial integrity but our very independence was under threat. The individuals leading our country at that time were steering it toward catastrophe. The occupation of our lands, the fall of Shusha, Lachin, and Kalbajar under Armenian occupation, internal strife, lawlessness, anarchy, and the outbreak of civil war as a result of the provocative and treacherous activities of the then-authorities meant that the young independent state of Azerbaijan was effectively on the verge of fragmentation. Had Heydar Aliyev not returned to power at the demand of the people, the fate of our nation and state could have been very dire. It was precisely due to his efforts that all negative trends, civil war, powerlessness, and lawlessness were brought to an end; stability was established in our country, development began, and the process of army building gradually commenced. Before his return to Azerbaijan, we effectively had no regular army, and our defeat in the First Garabagh War was precisely because of this. The individuals leading our army at that time not only lacked professional military knowledge but, through their treacherous activities, allowed our lands to fall under occupation. That coward and traitor who said, “If Shusha is lost, I will put a bullet in my head,” is still wandering around today. But our tragedy at the time was that people like him had seized key positions in Azerbaijan. Individuals with no knowledge, ability, or experience were appointed to the highest state posts. Our army was effectively in the hands of bandits.

Strong political will and the support of the people were necessary to curb all these negative trends, including bringing various illegal armed groups under control. Both were present. The decisive role of the National Leader in the history of Azerbaijan will never be erased from our memory. By continuing his policy, today we stand here in Zangilan. We expelled the enemy from our lands and restored our territorial integrity. Leading up to that, we built a strong economy, established a powerful army, strengthened patriotic spirit in society, and effectively succeeded in leading Azerbaijan out of international isolation. During the Second Garabagh War, despite all the pressure exerted on us, none of it yielded results, even though the number of those wanting to stop us was quite high. First of all, there were the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group. Each of those countries wanted to stop us for its own reasons. Throughout the 44 days, pressure was repeatedly placed on us. Those countries are not ordinary states—they are nuclear powers and permanent members of the UN Security Council. Look at who we were facing. Each of them was doing its utmost to make this occupation permanent, to use it as a tool, and ultimately to deny the Azerbaijani people the opportunity to breathe freely. Not only them, but other countries as well did not want our victory.