Azerbaijan's Aliyev: Armenia Should Not Take Offense at the Term 'Capitulation'

Ilham Aliyev has called on Armenia not to take offense at the term 'capitulation'. He stated, "The trilateral statement was signed by the presidents of Azerbaijan and Russia and the Prime Minister of Armenia regarding the end of the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war. In reality, for Armenia, this was an act of capitulation, as Armenia surrendered. The regions of Agdam, Kelbajar, and Lachin were returned to us without any shots fired. Naturally, Armenia did not do this voluntarily; we forced it. If, under the conditions of war, you compel someone to do something, it means that the side has capitulated. Thus, there is no need to search for any demeaning or offensive connotation in this term. It is simply a reality.

On November 9, trilateral negotiations were taking place under the mediation of the Russian president. I insisted that the core issue of the corridor connecting Azerbaijan with the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic must be reflected in the signed statement. The Armenian side was unwilling to agree to this. However, it did not have many alternatives.

If the war had continued, of course, we would also have suffered losses, but Armenia's losses would have been much greater. Because their troops were, so to speak, in a state of encirclement, and it was practically possible to eliminate them completely. Therefore, even unwillingly, Armenia consented, and that statement is well known; it contains the relevant special clause," he noted.