Daily Times

After a coup d’état in Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, who was now the incumbent prime minister, came to the conflict zone, Nagorno-Karabakh, on May 9, where he met with the head of the separatist regime Bako Sahakyan. Only a month later, his true intentions became known.

It turns out that Nikol Pashinyan went to Karabakh with a new plan to seize Azerbaijani territories. But this time the Armenian leadership aimed at seizing the settlements of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic.

So, on May 20, the Armenian Armed Forces launched a large-scale military operation using dozens of heavy equipment in the direction of Nakhchivan. The Azerbaijani army not only succeeded in suppressing enemy provocations, but during the counteroffensive operation, which was least expected in Yerevan, also managed to advance deep into the Azerbaijani territories, held by Armenian invaders since 1992.

As a result of fierce battles that took place between May 20 to 27, in the village of Günnüt in the Sharur region, the village of Arpa in Daralayaz (formerly renamed the Armenian side in Areni) came under the control of the Azerbaijani army.

Moreover, the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan freed more favourable positions; Hunut Hill, the hill of Agbulag from the occupation, and then the mountains of Mehridag and Gyzyl Gaya. By the way, the greatest strategic importance of the Gyzyl Gaya Upland lies in the fact that it allows the Azerbaijani army to control the Yerevan-Yeghegnadzor-Goris-Lachyn-Khankendi highway.

In recent years, under the leadership of the President of Azerbaijan, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev, much has been done to strengthen the Azerbaijani army

In total, over eleven thousand hectares of land passed over the control of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, eight thousand of which are suitable for farming. For the purpose of reliable protection of the territory, a new 50 kilometre has been constructed, and roads longer than 50 kilometres have been reconstructed.

Naturally, any military operation is fraught with human losses. The Azerbaijani side announced the loss of one serviceman, the Armenian side is trying to hide the scale of its losses. But according to the Armenian media, dozens of Armenian servicemen were killed and seven were wounded in the fight for the village of Günnüt.

Azerbaijan’s victory became possible largely due to the far-sighted and balanced policy of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. On December 20, 2013, the head of state signed a decree on the establishment of a separate combined-arms army in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic with the aim to strengthen Nakhchivan’s defensive capability, as well as increase the combat training of units and formations of the Armed Forces and improving centralised control.

Today, when a Single Combined Arms Army successfully repulsed the Armenian aggression and liberated the village of Gyunnut, we see how timely and wise the steps taken by President Ilham Aliyev were. After the signing of this decree, reforms were carried out in the Azerbaijani army in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic.

In recent years, under the leadership of the President of Azerbaijan, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev, much has been done to strengthen the Azerbaijani army, the modern military equipment being acquired has also been sent to Nakhchivan.

“Today the army in Nakhchivan has the capacity to prevent any provocation of the enemy and counter-offensive. Including in Nakhchivan there are weapons and long-range missiles that can destroy any military goal of the enemy,” said President Ilham Aliyev.

The April 2016 and May 2018 victory is proof that the armed forces of Azerbaijan are able to recover all their occupied lands in the shortest possible time. However, the Azerbaijani side does not want to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict by military means, but advocates a peaceful settlement of the conflict.

But in Armenia we must understand that the status quo around Karabakh must be changed, that the negotiation process cannot last forever and without result.

Taking into account that the military budget of Azerbaijan has increased 30 times (today it exceeds the entire state budget of Armenia), Azerbaijan is rapidly purchasing the newest weapons, under the former President Serzh Sargsyan the negotiation process on Karabakh was inconclusive, the Azerbaijani army successfully liberated a number of settlements over the past two years.

The current government of Armenia, led by Pashinyan, should learn this lesson and listen to the words of the President of Azerbaijan, who calls for a world, without bloodshed, to release all occupied Azerbaijani lands.

Otherwise, the Azerbaijani army, motivated by the successes after the liberation of the villages of Jodzhug Marjanli and Gunnut, can use its legitimate right to restore its territorial integrity.

The writer is the Director of the International Expert Club Eurasia-Azerbaijan, and Editor-in-Chief of the Azerbaijani news agency Vzglyad.az

Published in Daily Times, July 23^rd 2018.