Baku, September 29, AZERTAC

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has received credentials of the newly appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan Bilal Hayee.

Bilal Hayee presented his credentials to President Ilham Aliyev.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev then spoke with the ambassador.

Greeting the President of Azerbaijan, Ambassador Bilal Hayee said:

- Your Excellency Mr. President, I convey to you the greetings of the President and Prime Minister of Pakistan. The brotherly people of Azerbaijan have a special place for the people of Pakistan. As you know, Pakistan has always supported the brotherly Azerbaijani people in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Our hearts are with the people of Azerbaijan. Mr. President, our leaders have instructed me to work hard to deepen economic cooperation with Azerbaijan, strengthen defense relations and bring the peoples of the two countries closer together. Let me assure you that I will do my best to fulfill these tasks. Thank you!

President Ilham Aliyev said:

- You are welcome, Mr. Ambassador! I am very glad to see you. I wish you a good time in our country. First of all, I would like to ask you to convey my greetings to the President and Prime Minister of your country. I remember my meetings with both of them. I have met with Mr. President several times. I remember our last meeting and his active participation in the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Baku. I also remember my meeting with the Prime Minister at the World Economic Forum in Davos. We have reaffirmed the strategic and fraternal relations between our countries. As you mentioned, we are grateful to you for your country's continued support of Azerbaijan in resolving the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

As you know, Azerbaijan has always supported Pakistan in all matters, including the Kashmir issue. This mutual support reflects the fraternal nature of our cooperation. I am confident that during your activity in Azerbaijan, the relations between our countries will be strengthened further. As you mentioned, in addition to the political nature of our bilateral relations, we must focus on economic issues. I believe that there is great potential for stimulating mutual trade and build more active investment relations. We are grateful to Pakistan for its resolute position on the issues of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity. Pakistan does not recognize Armenia due to Armenia's occupation of Azerbaijani lands. This is a true demonstration of brotherhood. In all situations, Pakistan is always with us, and I am grateful for that. I would like to ask you to convey my gratitude to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of your country. As you know, the Foreign Minister of Pakistan recently made a statement in the aftermath of Armenia’s provocation against our country. This statement fully supports our cause. On 27 September, Armenia launched a new military provocation against Azerbaijan. This is a continuation of their aggressive policy.

Last month, we witnessed very severe acts of aggression on the part of Armenia. The events of July are well-known to the international community, and everyone knows that it was Armenia that fired on our villages and military positions in Tovuz district on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. As a result, one civilian was killed. The Azerbaijani Army had to take retaliatory measures. We responded to them adequately. Their plans to occupy new territories, as their defense minister had previously stated, failed. The Azerbaijani Army once again demonstrated its strength and the Armenian army was forced to stop the provocation and regret what it had done. Unfortunately, their aggressive policy and the phobia of Azerbaijan continues. Last month, on 23 August, they sent a sabotage group which was subsequently captured by our army. The head of the sabotage group was arrested and said in his statements that the main target was to attack civilians, commit acts of terror and attack our servicemen. We saw them preparing for war. My remarks, statements, interviews and speech at the UN General Assembly a few days before the new aggression were a signal to the international community to stop Armenia. I said that Armenia was clearly preparing for a new war and should be stopped, and so it happened.

On 27 September, they began to attack our villages and military positions from different directions, and we suffered casualties among civilians over these two days. Unfortunately, the number of civilian casualties is growing. So far, the Armenian armed forces have killed 10 civilians, including a family of five, among them two children. More than 20 civilians have been injured. This once again demonstrates the fascist nature of the Armenian criminal regime. This time we will teach them another lesson. We have already taught them a lesson and this process will be continued. The Azerbaijani Army has launched a counter-offensive. Some occupied territories have been liberated as a result of the counterattack. The Azerbaijani flag has been hoisted on these liberated territories. The successful counter-offensive operation of the Azerbaijani Army continues. We are fighting on our own land. Nagorno-Karabakh is a historical part of Azerbaijan. Nagorno-Karabakh is an integral part of Azerbaijan and the international community recognizes the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. Armenia's long-term aggression and occupation have not only led to the destruction of all our infrastructure, but also the Khojaly genocide and a cultural genocide. They have committed a cultural genocide. They have destroyed our historical monuments, our mosques. The mosques that have not yet been destroyed are used to keep animals. They are insulting the whole Muslim world. Regardless of what regime is in power, their Islamophobic and Azerbaijanophobic policies have already become the official ideology of Armenia. Two years ago, the criminal regime of the previous government was overthrown. There were hopes that the new government would put an end to hostility and hatred. Unfortunately, the new government is following the same path. Pashinyan's dictatorial regime is a threat to peace and security in the region. Unfortunately, international organizations are turning a blind eye to what the Pashinyan regime is doing. Dictatorship has already become an official policy in Armenia. The leader of the main opposition party was recently arrested. Criminal charges are being leveled against the two former presidents. There have been arrests. Journalists die in prison. Political opposition is being suppressed. Pashinyan is the new dictator of Armenia. Unfortunately, human rights organizations claiming to be advocates for people suffering in prison do not react. This is a demonstration of double standards. Armenia's dictatorial regime must be stopped, and if the international community does not stop them, Azerbaijan will stop them. The international community tolerates injustice and occupation, countries with a mandate to create conditions for negotiations fail to achieve their goals. Armenia is not paying any attention to their statements. The presidents of the Minsk Group co-chairs have repeatedly stated that the status quo is unacceptable, but Armenia ignores this and shows disrespect for these three countries. There are four UN Security Council resolutions calling for the full and unconditional withdrawal of Armenian troops from our territories. Armenia has been ignoring these resolutions for almost 30 years, and now their defense minister says there will be a new war against Azerbaijan for new territories. The prime minister says that Karabakh is Armenia. He shows that he is a liar not only domestically and internationally – this is well-known to the entire Armenian people. He lies every day. I don't think he can stop lying. However, to say that Karabakh is Armenia is another part of his ugly lies. Then he says that Azerbaijan should negotiate with the puppet regime of Nagorno-Karabakh, which means changing the format of negotiations. Then he declares illegal settlement of Armenians from Lebanon to the occupied territories. They organize military training in the occupied territories. They organize the so-called swearing-in ceremony for the fake leader of the criminal regime in Nagorno-Karabakh, in Shusha, which is an ancient city of Azerbaijan. They decide to move the so-called parliament of the criminal junta of Nagorno-Karabakh to Shusha and think that we will tolerate that. This is a direct insult to the feelings of the Azerbaijani people. We will never agree to this and show them their place. If the international community cannot stop this mindless dictator, Azerbaijan will stop him. Azerbaijan will show them where they belong and restore its territorial integrity.

I would like to thank our brothers in Pakistan once again. We feel this support. We have felt this support throughout our years of cooperation. As you can also imagine, it is cleat at moments like this who stands by you. We see that those who are with us today are the countries that have openly expressed their positions - brotherly Turkey and brotherly Pakistan. The President of Turkey, my brother, has repeatedly expressed his very strong position on the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, and during the Armenian aggression he repeatedly stated that Turkey is with us and that Azerbaijan is not alone. I am grateful to my brother, to all our Turkish brothers, to all the leaders of Turkey! All leading Turkish political parties have also expressed their support for Azerbaijan. We are grateful to all of them. We are also grateful to our brothers in Pakistan who stand by us at this important time. This, as they say, is a moment of truth. We see who is who, we see who is standing by us, and we will never forget that. Mr. Ambassador, please pass on our gratitude to the President, Prime Minister, Foreign Minister and all our brothers in Pakistan. Our friendship and brotherhood will be continued.

Ambassador Bilal Hayee: Mr. President, let me thank you again for your time. I would like to inform you that during his speech at the Non-Aligned Movement ministerial meeting today, our Foreign Minister will once again express Pakistan's support for Azerbaijan's just cause in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. We want to say that your position is fair and legitimate, and the resolution of this issue cannot be postponed indefinitely because it is a fair position. We are happy to say that Karabakh is Azerbaijan!

President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you very much!