United World International author Mehmet Perinçek gave an interview to the newspaper of the Azerbaijani Presidential Administration “Bakinsky Rabochy” about the withdrawal of the Russian peacekeeping contingent from the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan and the subsequent return to Azerbaijan of four villages, which remained under Armenian occupation for thirty years. We present the interview, published in Russian, to our readers translated into English.
Azerbaijan’s foreign policy and diplomatic achievements in recent years can be rightly considered unprecedented and the most successful in the history of the country.
The victorious Supreme Commander-in-Chief, President Ilham Aliyev, has inscribed heroic pages in the annals of Azerbaijani people. The peaceful return of four villages of Gazakh district, which were under thirty-year occupation of Armenia, without a single shot and bloodshed is another victory of the Azerbaijani nation and President Ilham Aliyev personally. After all, there were destructive pseudo-political forces both inside and outside our country, which sometimes questioned the possibility of these achievements. But the wise head of our state took and achieved all this.
The path taken by the independent Republic of Azerbaijan from the beginning of the 44-day Patriotic War to 19 April this year cannot be compared with the successes of any other era. Azerbaijan has never been as strong as it is now. There are factors that determine this reality.
Over the past 20+ years, under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev, the Azerbaijani state has achieved triumphal historical victories. The head of state has turned Azerbaijan into a strong country, restored the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the state, returning every inch of the lands previously occupied by Armenians. It is noteworthy that these momentous processes ended with the withdrawal of Russian peacekeepers from Azerbaijan and the absence of any foreign forces on the territory of the country.
Thanks to the iron will of President Ilham Aliyev, all external scenarios on the South Caucasus have vanished into oblivion. Today everyone, even the strongest powers without exception, reckon with the will of the Azerbaijani people and personally the head of our state, who has formed new geopolitical realities in the South Caucasus, creating the best precedent for the peoples and countries fighting for justice and peace in our world. At present Azerbaijan is the strongest and leading state not only in the South Caucasus region, but global geopolitical processes also testify to it, and it is not subject to any doubt.
Mehmet Perinçek, Doctor of Historical Sciences, shared his opinion with our correspondent.
On 19 April, as a result of the 8th meeting of the State Commission on Delimitation of the State Border between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Armenia and the Commission on Delimitation of the State Border and Border Security, an agreement was reached between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan on the transfer of four villages of Gazakh region to their true owners. At the same time, the process of withdrawal of the Russian peacekeeping contingent from the territory of Karabakh continues. I would like to know your attitude to these events.
The withdrawal of the Russian peacekeeping contingent from the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan and the subsequent return to Azerbaijan of four villages, which remained under Armenian occupation for thirty years, mark a new victory for Azerbaijani diplomacy. As a rule, if regional countries limit or remove Western interference from regional processes and at the same time take the initiative, then they can justly solve any regional problems. It is noteworthy that Azerbaijani diplomacy proceeded from this postulate even before the second Karabakh war.
One can see with the naked eye how all regional players without exception suffer from the West’s brazen and unauthorized interference in the internal affairs of both the region itself and individual countries of the South Caucasus. Naturally, Azerbaijan itself was able to solve its perennial problem by means of its own strength, clearly structured strategy, wise and well-considered internal and foreign policy, unbending political will, armed forces equipped with the latest technology, as well as the unity of the authorities, people and army. At the same time, we should not forget that the Ankara-Baku-Moscow axis, which played a very important role in ensuring the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, acted as a guarantor of the feat of the Azerbaijani people.
I remember, when Russian peacekeepers were introduced to Karabakh in 2020, many doubted that they would voluntarily leave our lands…
Yes, you are right, immediately after the signing of the trilateral agreement on 10 November 2020, according to which a Russian peacekeeping contingent was stationed on the territory of the Karabakh economic region of the Republic of Azerbaijan, many people spoke out against the Russian peacekeepers, making noise about how they were occupiers and would never leave the region.
At first glance, such grief propaganda supposedly served the interests of Azerbaijan, but in reality, it was beneficial only to Armenia and Western countries. The Russian peacekeepers have fulfilled their peacekeeping mission and tasks and are now leaving the territory of Azerbaijan. And after the Armenian population of Karabakh left their homes en masse and, consequently, there was no one to protect them, there was no need for Russian peacekeepers. So they have fulfilled their mission, and it is time to leave the territory of Karabakh.
Azerbaijan is a strong state in a number of strategic spheres, if not in all of them.
The Azerbaijani people and President Ilham Aliyev have a firm, stable position, because of which other countries, even the strongest ones, are forced to reckon with official Baku and respect Azerbaijan’s sovereignty.
All these events once again confirm the fact that the victory of strong Azerbaijan is the victory of universal justice, the victory of peace, the victory of Azerbaijani diplomacy, which came from a good common regional initiative. It also came from the desire to prevent the interference of the West, which constantly muddies the waters. Azerbaijan proved that the West, flirting with one country or another in the region, only isolates itself from the South Caucasus. By giving a strong response to these interventions, Azerbaijan is a guarantor of the security of the entire region.
At this moment in history, the formation of a multipolar world is actively underway, in which Azerbaijan occupies its place of honor. The sunset of the collective West, the sunset of the ill-fated Atlanticism is clearly visible on the horizon. Thanks to Azerbaijan and personally President Ilham Aliyev, the world has been warned that it is very harmful and dangerous to support the plans of the West or play any role in these plans, because all schemes and adventures of the Old and New Worlds end up in a great defeat.