“We have returned to Aghdam. I would like to once again congratulate all the people of Aghdam on this historic event. I know that the people of Aghdam have been looking forward to this day for many years. Both during the occupation, for about 30 years, and during the Second Karabakh War, the Patriotic War, they waited for Aghdam to be liberated from occupation. We have honorably fulfilled our historic mission and liberated the occupied territories from the enemy,” said President of Azerbaijan, Victorious Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Ilham Aliyev as he visited the liberated from occupation the city of Aghdam.

Visiting the Aghdam mosque and raising the Azerbaijani flag, the head of state said: “The victory on the battlefield made it possible to liberate Aghdam district, as well as Kalbajar and Lachin districts, without firing a single shot and without anyone becoming a martyr.”

“We have returned to these lands at the expense of the lives and blood of the Azerbaijani people, our martyrs, and the courage of our heroes,” the President noted.

“We had to gather strength, and we did that. Over the past 17 years, I have repeatedly said to the people that we must be stronger and build a stronger army. The factor of strength plays a decisive role in the world today. Justice is on our side, international law is on our side, and strength should be on our side too. It was because we weren’t strong enough that Azerbaijani lands were occupied in the early 1990s. We were gaining strength and becoming stronger. I was saying that every citizen of Azerbaijan should bring this holy day, this day of victory closer with their work, with their hard work and devotion to the Motherland,” President Ilham Aliyev emphasized.