Lachin, May 28, AZERTAC

On May 28, a concert celebrating May 28 – Independence Day was held in Lachin.

Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President of the Republic of Türkiye, and Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, attended the concert.

The ceremony began with the national anthems of Azerbaijan, Türkiye, and Pakistan.

The President of Azerbaijan addressed the event.

Speech by President Ilham Aliyev

- Dear President of Türkiye, my dear brother Recep Tayyip Erdoğan,

Dear Prime Minister of Pakistan, my dear brother Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif,

Distinguished guests, dear residents of Lachin,

First of all, I would like to congratulate all the Azerbaijani people on the occasion of Independence Day. I would like to welcome the leaders of Türkiye and Pakistan, who have joined us on this holiday, as well as the guests who have come to Azerbaijan together with them.

Azerbaijan, Türkiye, and Pakistan—three brotherly nations—continue to strengthen their cooperation year after year, day by day. We are always by each other's side in good times and in challenges. We show solidarity and support. Today, our strategic cooperation was once again reaffirmed at the second trilateral Summit. Holding this ceremony here in Lachin, East Zangezur—a region liberated from occupation—and in the presence of the leaders of two brotherly countries is further evidence of the unity and brotherhood of Azerbaijan-Türkiye-Pakistan.

The fact that we are together, especially in this region, in the city of Lachin, which was under occupation for 30 years, carries great symbolism. During the 44-day Second Karabakh War, Türkiye and Pakistan supported us. The support of Türkiye and Pakistan inspired us and gave us additional strength. We are always grateful to the leaders of brotherly countries and fraternal peoples for this great political and moral support.

Today, we are opening a new chapter in our trilateral cooperation. I am sure that the issues we discussed today and the agreements we reached will bring us even closer to each other.

Exactly 107 years ago, the first democratic republic in the Muslim world, the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, was established. This was a landmark historical event. Regrettably, the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic had a short lifespan. Two years later, in April 1920, our independence was taken from us. A few months later, in November 1920, the West Zangezur region was separated from Azerbaijan and annexed to Armenia by Soviet Russia. This was a great injustice, and the Azerbaijani people have faced similar injustices throughout their history. However, the resolve of our people and the support of our brotherly nations gave us strength, inspired us, and strengthened our will.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Azerbaijan regained its state independence. However, Armenia's aggressive policy brought immense tragedies to Azerbaijan. Four months after the declaration of independence, the Armenian state committed genocide against our people. As a result of the Khojaly genocide, 613 innocent people, including 106 women and 63 children, were brutally killed in one night. Seven months after the declaration of independence, Lachin was subjected to Armenian occupation. Before that, the city of Shusha was occupied. Armenia's policy of aggression continued after that as well. Due to the support of foreign countries, approximately 20 percent of the territory of Azerbaijan was subjected to Armenian occupation, 100,000 Azerbaijanis from the Karabakh and East Zangezur regions were subjected to ethnic cleansing and began to live as refugees and displaced persons.

The Azerbaijani state and people never put up with this injustice, this occupation. We gathered strength and secured stronger positions on the international stage. We carried out our just cause within the framework of international organizations. All leading international organizations established a political and legal framework for resolving the conflict by recognizing Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity. At the same time, we built a strong economy and, as a result, allocated the necessary amount of funds for the army. Strong political will, a strong economy, and a strong army are the key factors that led us to Victory.

At the same time, we conditioned our Victory by raising a new generation of young people in the spirit of patriotism, attached to their nation and land. During the 44-day Second Karabakh War, we moved forward every single day. We did not take a single step back. We liberated more than 300 cities and villages from Armenian invaders on the battlefield. In particular, the cities of Jabrayil, Hadrut, Fuzuli, Zangilan, Gubadli, and Shusha were liberated from the invaders on the battlefield. After our Shusha Victory on November 8, 2020, the mood of surrender in the Armenian army increased even more, and on the next day, in the early hours of November 10, Armenia was forced to sign the act of capitulation, the act of surrender. As a result, Lachin, Kalbajar and Aghdam were liberated from the occupiers without a single shot being fired. This glorious history of ours changed the geopolitical situation in our region, created new realities, and every country had to come to terms with these new realities. Our one-day anti-terrorist operation in 2023 fully restored our state sovereignty, and separatism was once and for all eradicated in Azerbaijan.

Restoration and construction efforts are now underway across all our liberated lands. Major infrastructure projects are underway - hospitals, schools, three airports have been built, railways and highways have been laid, and the construction of about 70 kilometers of tunnels is progressing rapidly. Today, our guests were acquainted with some of the work underway in the liberated lands. 43,000 people already live and work in our East Zangezur and Karabakh regions. Life has returned to this region, the true owners of this region have returned. We had to return, and return we did. We have defeated the Armenian army, and the Azerbaijani people are proud of this. For more than four years now, we have been living as a victorious people and state, and will live like that forever. Today, the participation of my dear brothers, the President of Türkiye and the Prime Minister of Pakistan, in these celebrations along with us, the support and solidarity shown to us, are already creating a completely new reality worldwide. Our strength lies in our unity. Today, we have once again confirmed our unity in a trilateral format. The songs that will be performed at the celebration concert today will once again show our unity and demonstrate how rich our culture is. I am confident that the messages that the three countries are sending to the world today from liberated Lachin will reach the right addressees.

Let me once again welcome President of Türkiye, my dear brother Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Prime Minister of Pakistan, my dear brother Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, and all the guests who have come with them. I greet the people of Lachin from the bottom of my heart. May Allah always open our skies and paths. Victory is ours and will remain so.

Long live the unity and brotherhood of Azerbaijan-Türkiye-Pakistan!

X X X

Then, the President of Türkiye addressed the event.

Speech by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

- My dear brother, President Ilham Aliyev,

My dear friend, Prime Minister of Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif,

Distinguished members of the government, dear artists, ladies and gentlemen.

I greet you with most sincere feelings, respect and love. From here, from Baku to Ganja, from Shusha to Nakhchivan, I am sending my love and respect to my brothers in every corner of Azerbaijan.

First of all, I would like to convey to you the greetings on behalf of 86 million people whose hearts are overwhelmed when they say “Dear Azerbaijan”, “One nation, Two States.” Now, there are three states, one nation on the screen here.

I am very pleased to be with you on this meaningful day where we emphasize our common culture and brotherhood on the occasion of May 28, Independence Day of dear Azerbaijan. As a child of a nation that knows very well how independence was gained and how precious it is, I sincerely congratulate you on your Independence Day.

I remember with mercy and respect our heroes who crowned the glorious struggles we waged for independence and the future with their martyrdom. May Allah bless the souls of our dear martyrs and grant them paradise!

On this unforgettable day, we once again recall the magnificent verses of the great Azerbaijani poet Samad Vurgun:

Men know that you are mine by birth:

My nest, my refuge and my hearth,

My mother, native land, dear earth!

Sever soul and body? Death but can,

O Azerbaijan, my Azerbaijan!

As mother to me, as child to you-

Such is the bond we ever knew:

I'd come back wherever I flew,

For you are my people, you-my nest,

My native birthplace ever blest

Yes, we will continue to strengthen the love between us and our countries, our nest and the apple of our eye, Azerbaijan, Inshallah. Both on pleasant occasions such as today’s and, God forbid, on difficult days, we will always be with the Azerbaijani people. I ask Allah to make the Azerbaijani-Turkish brotherhood eternal and permanent.

My dear brothers, distinguished guests, just as the Republic established in Azerbaijan in 1918 became the symbol of independence and free will, the Victory of freedom in Karabakh makes Azerbaijan stronger and more prosperous today. The torch of independence that flared up that day illuminates the path of Azerbaijan even brighter and more powerfully today. With the freedom of Karabakh, every musical sound that rose in these lands became the sound of not only a Victory, but also, as they say, of the revival of the nation.

The music that we will listen to in a moment contains the sound of the free lands of Karabakh. These songs reflect the freedom echoing in the stones of Shusha, the hope growing in the valleys of Lachin, the national will revived in Ganja and Baku. Each composition that is sung contains the spirit of the magnificent Victory achieved at the cost of the blessed lives and blood of our heroic martyrs. Today, we evaluate this concert as a unique meeting that greets our eternal brotherhood, our common memory, our prosperity and strong future.

You will remember that earlier, together with my brother Ilham, we opened the doors of Karabakh to the world - Fuzuli and Zangilan International Airports. We are very happy that today we were lucky to open Lachin International Airport.

We are building strong partnerships with Azerbaijan in all areas, from energy to transportation, from defense to trade, from agriculture to education. Thanks to the unique contributions of my brother Ilham, we are raising our relations to a level that will be an example not only for the region but also for the whole world every day.

We are all proud of the successes of Azerbaijan, which has risen as a monument of stability. It is time to write a story of success, peace and development for Karabakh, which has been liberated from opression after thirty years.

Today, learning from the pain we experienced in the past, we aim to establish lasting peace, build trust and good neighborly relations. We believe that the victorious Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Mr. Ilham Aliyev, will also write his name in history as an architect of peace.

With these thoughts, I express my gratitude to the people of Azerbaijan, to my brothers from Lachin for their sincere hospitality, and to my valuable friend, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mr. Shehbaz Sharif, who made us extremely happy by coming here.

I greet you once again with most sincere feelings and congratulate you again on the occasion of May 28, Independence Day. May Allah open our path and happiness. I hope to meet and hug you again. Thank you and stay well!

X X X

Later, the Prime Minister of Pakistan delivered a speech.

Speech by Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif

- Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem.

My very dear brothers, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and President of Türkiye Recep Tayyip Erdoğan,

Honourable Ministers, Excellencies, distinguished guests and our brothers and sisters from Lachin,

Ladies and gentlemen, assalamu alaykum and a very good evening.

My dear brother President Ilham Aliyev, it is a sheer coincidence that today we are celebrating Azerbaijan's independence and today we are celebrating when Pakistan became a nuclear power on the 28th of May 1998. Therefore, it's a great pleasure and honour to participate in this celebration event and my heartfelt congratulations to you my dear brother President Ilham Aliyev and to our brothers and sisters in Azerbaijan. And what a great honour to be here on a day of Azerbaijan's independence here in this beautiful mountainous city of Lachin.

Under your great leadership and dynamic vision that you've been able to liberate Karabakh after 30 years and in that your armed forces fought bravely. Our salute to those martyrs who laid their life for this great cause and to those Ghazis who stood firm and fought the enemy with great courage. I congratulate you once again for this wonderful contribution to your nation. In that struggle our brother President Tayyip Erdoğan and our brothers and sisters from Türkiye were a source of great support and encouragement to Azerbaijan - on that hour of need and Türkiye’ support was outstanding during that period. Pakistan in all humility also contributed towards this great cause and we offered all brotherly diplomatic, political support to our brothers and sisters in Azerbaijan because it came from our heart. It was a cause worth supporting. It was a cause worth standing by our brothers and sisters of Azerbaijan. Therefore, I can say, ladies and gentlemen, that today that old adage is slightly transformed. We used to say two souls and one heart. Today it is now changed forever to three souls and one heart.

Ladies and gentlemen, Pakistan has just been able to overpower an enemy in the last few weeks, which is five times more populated than Pakistan, which is many times stronger in economic terms than Pakistan and which has spent over decades hundreds of billions of dollars to purchase world's latest weapons, ammunition, fighter planes and modern technology. On the 22nd of April this year in Pahalgam, a part of occupied Jammu and Kashmir, 26 people were killed and it was a very sad incident. Unfortunately, India wasted no time to level false allegations against Pakistan and tried to concoct facts and convey a message to the world that Pakistan is involved in this so-called Pahalgam incident. We offered immediately without wasting time and international enquiry commission to investigate this matter in a very transparent and credible fashion but in response India attacked Pakistan killing 33 innocent Pakistanis and out of whom there were children. We offered namaz-e-janaza of a six-year-old boy who was martyred by Indian aggression and there were women and elderly person and 55 Pakistanis were injured. Ladies and gentlemen, we had to respond in defence of Pakistan and within no time our formidable Air Force downed six Indian planes, four Rafale French-made planes, one MiG-29 and another plane and then a drone and we conveyed a message to India that Pakistan is a very peace-loving country, wants to promote peace and prosperity in the region but if come to the point of attacking Pakistan then we will respond with fullest might.

Then, ladies and gentlemen, on 9th and 10th night, we decided to respond in a measured fashion to Indian aggression and we had decided that at 4.30 in the morning after Fajr prayers, Pakistan Armed Forces led very ably by our Field Marshal, Chief Army Staff sitting here Syed Asim Munir to teach a lesson to our enemy. But before that hour reached, India again launched Brahmos missile attacks and hit Pakistan's various provinces including airport in Rawalpindi and other places.

Our Chief of Staff was sitting here in the first, Field Marshal could you kindly stand up and I would like to introduce you to him. He told me that India has again attacked, his voice was conveying unshakeable confidence. He was absolutely resolved, calm but then absolutely clear that we will have to now teach our enemy a lesson of their life and then, ladies and gentlemen, we attacked Indian military installations, not civilians. That is the stark comparison between us and them, they went for innocent civilians, martyred them. We went for their military installations and gave them a befitting reply. By 9 a.m. in the morning the Field Marshal rang me again and said India has approached Pakistan for a ceasefire, what are your instructions? I said, Field Marshal, Allah Almighty has given us a victorious day, a glorious victory, now let us accept this request of India for a ceasefire because we believe in peace, we want ceasefire, we want this war to be averted at all costs. Ladies and gentlemen, this is what I wanted to bring it up today for your kind consideration.

Azerbaijan was attacked by Armenia. Türkiye and Pakistan were standing by Azerbaijan like a solid rock. Pakistan was attacked by India and my very dear brother President Tayyip Erdoğan, and our brothers and sisters in Türkiye were standing by Pakistan like a formidable fortress and my very dear brother Ilham Aliyev and our brothers and sisters in Azerbaijan came to show their complete solidarity with Pakistan within no time. This was one of the finest moments in our history, three brotherly countries were together like a family sharing its difficult time. We will never forget this kindest of favour on the part of my very dear brother President Tayyip Erdoğan and of course my very dear brother President Ilham and believe me even if I want to pay them back I don't have sufficient words to thank them. Allah Almighty will certainly reward you for this great fraternity, brotherhood and your very sincere show of support. Thank you.

Today we had our second round of trilateral meeting and my brothers and sisters I want to share with you without going into any details that this trilateral meeting was most productive and most inspiring in terms of what we discussed and what we are going to coordinate between the three brotherly countries in times to come. Inshallah, today, the flags of three brotherly countries fluttering in this beautiful serene place of Lachin goes to explain in volumes that these flags together will fly higher and higher and Inshallah together we will march towards the path of progress and prosperity.

I would also like to thank both my very dear brothers for supporting the just cause of Jammu and Kashmir where the value of that beautiful mountainous area Kashmir is red with the blood of Kashmiri freedom fighters going back over decades they have struggled, they have fought against tyranny, against brutality and yet they are as firm as ever. They have not given it up and they shall never give it up till they get their basic right of freedom enshrined under the articles of United Nations and enshrined in the clauses of Security Council. Pakistan has stood by the cause of Kashmiris in an unwavering manner so has Türkiye and so has Azerbaijan. Inshallah a day will dawn, one day soon when the people of Kashmir will have their right of freedom and get out of the clutches of slavery.

Ladies and gentlemen, the heart-wrenching story of Gaza is not different. 52,000 Palestinian children, women, young boys, elderly people, teachers, doctors, engineers, workers have been martyred and as I speak their blood is still spilling on the streets of Gaza. I think, in contemporary history there isn't a more heart-wrenching episode than this one. I wonder when civilised world conscience will wake up to these atrocities. This barbaric act on the part of Israel has to be condemned with fullest force and again together Türkiye, which is always Tayyip Erdoğan my brother has always led such very noble causes and not only the Muslim world but the global world appreciates President Tayyip Erdoğan's leading role to provide voice and strength to suffering humanity and so has my very dear brother Ilham Aliyev and so has Pakistan.

Today, I am standing before you, my very dear brothers and sisters, that today we have to raise our voice and raise it to a pitch, to a level that the entire world can hear the voices of Türkiye, Azerbaijan and Pakistan that in the name of God ceasefire must be put into place in Gaza sooner rather than later. In the name of humanity, killings of our brothers and sisters in Gaza must stop as of now. In the name of freedom and justice, our Palestinian brothers and sisters must be given the right of self-determination according to two-state vision, which is broadly endorsed by the entire world.

In the end, ladies and gentlemen, may the crescents on the flags of our great nations Türkiye, Azerbaijan, and Pakistan continue to shine side by side with our flags fluttering high and high as emblems of strength, unity, hope for our peoples and for the entire Muslim world. Pakistan zindabad, Pakistan-Azerbaijan-Türkiye brotherhood zindabad. Thank you God bless you.

X X X

Following the speeches, a concert program featuring songs from Azerbaijan, Türkiye, and Pakistan was performed.