A well-known Azerbaijani journalist, editor-in-chief of "Yenicag” media group, Agil Alesger, talked about the post-war period in Karabakh, about the entrée of Russian peacekeepers into the conflict zone, and Turkey's decision to send its troops to Azerbaijan with news portal TheLondonpost.
— Agil bey, how can one estimate the results of the forty-day war in Karabakh?
— If you analyze the war, or rather counteroffensive operation of the Azerbaijani army, that lasted only 44 days, then one can say with certainty that our army achieved the impossible, as confirmed by the most prominent specialists and experts. I'm not a martial, so I can't delve into the details of this operation. However, one fact is obvious and that's the fact that vast territories with complex relief and geography, which are also equipped with many bridgeheads, defensive structures, in which an entire army was based, armed with all types of small arms, artillery installations, portable missile systems and maneuvering equipment, were liberated by our army in such a short time.
The process of occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh and the vast territories surrounding it has lasted for almost 30 years. For the last 30 years, the Armenian armed forces, with the active help of the remaining Soviet army units and weapons, occupied 20% of the territories of independent Azerbaijan. For almost 30 years, while there were senseless negotiations on the settlement of the Karabakh conflict, the enemy fortified itself in the occupied territories and turned Karabakh into almost the most militarized zone in the world. This is the assessment of military experts, and in the near future the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan will show journalists these rat holes, trenches, fortified areas, firing points, underground bunkers, which our soldiers heroically overcame, destroying the invaders.
— Who is the winner of the war?
— There can be no doubts that Azerbaijan won the war. It's unambiguous. It was a brilliant victory of our glorious army which acted on behalf of the Supreme Commander, the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, around whom the nation united closely as one. We defeated the hostile army and forced them to surrender and sign a peace deal on our terms. The majority of the occupied territories returned to Azerbaijan, and the liberation of another part of Karabakh is just a matter of time.
— What can you say about the Russian peacekeepers in Karabakh?
— Russia, as one of the key states of the region, has always been a part of the Karabakh conflict. Russia is one of the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, which has very close ties with the sides of the conflict. In addition, in recent years, Moscow has been actively cooperating with practically the only ally of Azerbaijan, Turkey, on many issues and conflict situations. Cooperation between Moscow and Ankara is strengthening every year and these countries are joining forces solving fundamental problems, conflicts and confrontations around the world. An example of this can be cooperation between Turkey and Russia in Syria, Libya, now in Karabakh. Both countries have done a great job to establish peace in Karabakh, and it was due to the reasonable policy and mutual understanding between the elites of Turkey and Russia that Armenian propaganda and the western patrons of Armenia did not manage to expand the scale of the war in Karabakh.
Russia and Turkey quickly found the common ground, and the Armenian occupants realized that it isn't that easy to carry neighboring sides to their cheap provocation. The mission of Russian peacekeepers has been consented between Azerbaijan and Russia which gave the mandate to Moscow for the entering of Russian military contingent to the territories. The agreement also suited the Armenian side, which signed the document. I think that certain details of the mission will be agreed in the future, since everything happened in a hurry, when there were fierce battles at the front.
— Turkey decided to send its military troops into the conflict zone. How will it affect the military and political situation in the region and how will the balance of power will change afterwards in the Southern Caucasus?
— As we know, it is no secret to anyone that brotherly Turkey has always been next to Azerbaijan in all issues, including the Karabakh conflict. When the hostilities began, specifically the provocations of the Armenian side back in the Tovuz direction, the Turkish state from the president to the minister stated that Turkey with all its might, with all its resources is ready to provide Azerbaijan with any support that a brotherly country needs. I think that this is enough to understand the level of relations between our countries. Now, when Russia again saved Armenia from death, when our troops liberated Shusha and began to cleanse Khankendi of Armenian terrorists and occupants, Turkey, at the request of Azerbaijan, joined the process of resolving the conflict and decided to send its military to our country. It is not yet known where the monitoring centers for observing the situation and following the ceasefire will be located, but the main thing here is that Turkey, the army of the brotherly country, as a guarantor of Azerbaijan's security and a deterrent force will be present in the region. The Turkish parliament approved the sending of Turkish military to Azerbaijan. As we know, the Russian side reacted positively to this decision of Turkey, and Putin personally said that the choice of allies is the sovereign right of independent Azerbaijan and the deployment of the Turkish military on the territory of our country does not threaten Russia's interests.
Our region is entering a completely new period of its life. The end of Armenia's occupational policy opens a new page for the entire region. Imagine, one of the most difficult conflicts in the South Caucasus has almost been resolved. The agreement on Karabakh allows transport communications, it's opening a direct route to Nakhchivan, and from there to Turkey. Over all, these are very positive processes that are the harbingers of economic development and prosperity for the entire region. It's too early to talk about it yet. We still have to rebuild, restore our cities and villages destroyed by the Armenian fascists, and create a completely new civil infrastructure there from scratch. It will take some time, and our refugees will gradually return to their homes, life will spark in these lands, and we will revive our homeland.
