Azerbaijan: The glorious May victory

Isn’t it the time for Yerevan to stop and think about returning the occupied lands to Baku – Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions?

Ilham Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan (photo credit: REUTERS)
Ilham Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan
(photo credit: REUTERS)
The Azerbaijani army once again demonstrated and proved that it is able to successfully carry out all the tasks assigned to it. A clear example of this is the April 2016 battles, when the Azerbaijani Armed Forces liberated the heights near the village of Talysh, the point of Seysulan, and also took control of the strategic height of Lele Tepe, located aligned with  Fizuli region.
However, victories in the April battles ignited the beginning of the liberation of Azerbaijani lands from the Armenian occupation. And one of these days, in the last days of May, the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan, after 26 years, freed  the village of Gunnut in the Sharur region of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, occupied by the Armenian armed forces in 1992.
In the course of fierce battles, the Azerbaijani army took a more favorable position, freeing the mountain “Hunut,” the hill “Agbulag” and then the mountain “Gyzylgaya” and “Mehridag” from the occupation. The village of Arpa moved to Daralayaz where the Armenians renamed it “Areni.”
The liberation of Azerbaijan’s strategic position – the “Gizilgaya” hill, allows the Azerbaijani army to control the Yerevan-Yeghegnadzor-Gerus-Lachin-Khankendi highway. In total, about 11 thousand hectares of territory have been taken under control, over eight thousand hectares of which are suitable for farming, especially for dry farming.
Going back  to history; it is worth noting that in the 90s of the last century, not only the village of Gunnut, but also the other Sharur villages of Sadarak, Khavush and Shahbulag were subjected to a continuous attack of the enemy. In 1992, the Armenian army destroyed houses, many social facilities, schools, a medical center, a library, a cemetery and a mosque in the village of Gunnut. Local residents were forced to leave their homeland  and settle in other localities.
Today, 26 years later, local residents returned to their native village of Gunnut and visited the graves of their relatives. Soon, large-scale work will begin to restore the village. It is well remembered that when the Azerbaijani Armed Forces liberated the village of Jodzhug Marjanli from Armenian occupants, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed an order on measures for the restoration of the village.
As a result, new roads were built in the village, dozens of individual houses and other social facilities were built.
I note that this is the second defeat of Armenia in the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict since 2016. The first defeat is the April four-day war in 2016, the second defeat, the Victory of May  2018. Perhaps, for official Yerevan, it may be interesting why Armenia lost another battle to Azerbaijan.
Firstly, on the basis of the 5th Army Corps there is a unit known as the United Army Group (Special Forces). It was created recently. Secondly, in Nakhchivan new anti-aircraft defense systems, rockets and artillery, including the Smerch, T-300 Kasirga and T-122 Sakarya missile complexes are quartered.
Currently, Azerbaijan does not focus on quantity, but on quality, that is, the number of personnel has not changed, and the purchase of new and modern weapons that can disable most of the enemy’s manpower continues. Thirdly, joint military exercises with Turkey are held annually. Fourth, Azerbaijan’s military budget has increased 30 times , today it exceeds the entire state budget of Armenia.
What does it say?
The fact is, is that Azerbaijan today can afford to buy any modern weapon, in contrast to Armenia.
Should this be measured by force?  Isn’t it the time for Yerevan to stop and think about returning the occupied lands to Baku – Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions.
The ruling regime of Armenia should understand two things:
1) as long as the Azerbaijani lands are under Armenian occupation, Azerbaijan will continue to purchase weapons.
2) Azerbaijan reserves the right to restore its territorial integrity.
Generally speaking, the fighting in April and May demonstrate the amount of  attention paid by the Azerbaijani president, supreme commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces Ilham Aliyev to the army, the high fighting efficiency of the Azerbaijani army, and the ability of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan to liberate the occupied territories at any time.