Azernews.Az

By Mushvig Mehdiyev

Azerbaijan's flag will absolutely wave over the occupied territories in the very near future, a top Azerbaijani military official said.

As Azerbaijanis came together this March 31 to remember the Day of Genocide and honor the memory of all those who were murdered by Armenia in a despicable grand-scale murderous act against the nation of Azerbaijan, top Azerbaijani officials issued several statements, among whom Defense Minister, Zakir Hasanov confirmed the country would soon, according to its government's will, liberate all occupied territories.

"Azerbaijani army is able to repel any kind of military aggression against the country," he said.

Hasanov believes that raising international awareness about the painful events happened in Azerbaijan due to Armenia's aggression and enmity is of great significance.

"The Massacres of Azerbaijanis - March 31, 1918 and the Khojaly genocide of February 26, 1992 - are bloody pages of our past. These tragedies are the clear results of Armenia's well-thought and insidious ethnic cleansing policy against Azerbaijanis," Hasanov said.

Recalling national leader Heydar Aliyev's endeavors, the minister said the universal propaganda campaign of March 31 genocide against Azerbaijanis, which has yet to receive political and legal assessment, started namely after his rise to power in Azerbaijan.

The Genocide of Azerbaijanis on March 31, 1918 was an unprecedented reflection of Armenians' hatred against Azerbaijanis as they massacred more than 700,000 Azerbaijanis including some 30,000 in Baku and surrounding towns.

Moreover, armed Armenian dashnaks destroyed hundreds of villages and towns, committed never seen before bloodbaths throughout Azerbaijan. About 150 Azerbaijani settlements were annihilated in the Karabakh region alone.

Based on an order by Azerbaijan's former president Aliyev on March 26, 1998, March 31 was officially announced as the Day of Azerbaijani Genocide.

Azerbaijan's leadership is now attaching a great deal of attention and importance to its army building measures as part of its state policy amid the unresolved territorial conflict with Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

The Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions of Azerbaijan are currently under Armenia's occupation following a sudden and insidious aggression by this smallest South Caucasus country in early 1990s. While Yerevan continues to justify the occupation of 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory by backing the separatist puppet regime in Nagorno-Karabakh, Baku and international organizations have worked hard to end the conflict in peace.

International decision makers unequivocally recognize the occupied lands as part of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and the United Nations Security Council adopted four resolutions urging Armenia to pull its troops out of Nagoro-Karabakh.

Nonetheless, the former and incumbent rulers in Yerevan turned down calls for peace, being true to Armenia's belligerent nature.

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