President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev threatened Armenia with war If a “peace treaty” is not signed between the two countries and if Azerbaijan’s “territorial integrity” is not recognized. When speaking of peace, Aliyev and other Azeri authorities continue to engage in historical revisionism and use threatening language, according to Azerbaijani state media.
Aliyev repeated his territorial claims against Armenia, stating that Yerevan, Sevan, and Syunik are Azerbaijani “ancestral lands,” and that Azerbaijanis will return to these territories. Aliyev said, “When all communications are opened, we, the people of Azerbaijan will return to their ancestral land, of course. The 10 November Trilateral Declaration states: all refugees must return to their homeland. Our native land is Zangezur (Syunik), Goycha (Sevan), and Iravan (Yerevan). We will definitely return there.”
Aliyev declared that “Baku has received information through unofficial communication channels that Yerevan isn’t ready to sign a peace treaty,” adding that Baku had been expecting a positive response from Yerevan in regard to the signing of a peace treaty following the snap parliamentary elections in Armenia. “I think this would be a big mistake. Before and during the war, the Armenian side made a big mistake and committed war crimes. This might be the next big mistake,” said Aliyev at a ceremony in which he presented apartments and cars to families of Azeri veterans who fought in the Artsakh war.
According to Aliyev, the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) conflict is resolved by Azerbaijan, and “both sides need to recognize territorial integrity and borders and start working on demarcation. I must also say that international organizations respond positively to the demarcation. If Armenia doesn’t want to do this, it should think hard because tomorrow might be too late,” he declared. Aliyev added that if someone begins to say the issue must be resolved or that this conflict is still not settled, “they are on a wrong and dangerous path.”
“I have said that we must go back there. I said this ten years ago. All my speeches are in the press. I said that this is the land of our ancestors, we must return there, and we will return, and we are returning already. Nobody can stop us. We will definitely come back because there is no other way… we cannot forget history.”
Aliyev made his remarks amid a fresh skirmish in which an Armenian soldier was killed by Azerbaijani forces along the Armenia-Nakhchivan border near Yeraskh, Ararat province. Armenian authorities say the skirmish was provoked by the Azerbaijani side, one Azeri soldier was also wounded.
