Baku, October 17, AZERTAC

“The victorious Azerbaijani Army is driving and will continue to drive the enemies away from our lands in the ongoing battles. I said that if they do not leave our lands of their own free will, we will chase them away like dogs and we are doing that. Every day, the victorious Azerbaijani Army liberates new strategic locations, new heights and new settlements from the occupiers. Our revenge takes place on the battlefield,” said President Ilham Aliyev in his address to the nation.

“These days, from 27 September to the present, a crushing blow has been dealt to Armenia's military potential. I just want to bring some figures to the attention of our citizens. I must say that the list I will provide is incomplete. An even larger amount of enemy equipment has been destroyed and, of course, it is impossible to calculate it accurately during the battle. However, the figures I will quote show explicitly that we have gained a complete advantage on the battlefield and have almost completely destroyed the military-technical potential of Armenia. The question is where do so many weapons and so much equipment come from to Armenia? Armenia's military budget is well known. Armenia's state budget is also well known. Armenia is a bankrupt country. The country's foreign debt accounts for 60-70 percent of the country's gross domestic product. The country's foreign exchange reserves are only $1.5 billion, which are bank reserves. That is, it is not free funds. What money are they getting these weapons and equipment with? The equipment we have destroyed and taken as booty so far is worth at least $2 billion. But there is still more in their hands – in the occupied territories and in the territory of Armenia. The question is who is arming them.

In some cases, we are criticized that we are arming ourselves, we are buying weapons and this can allegedly aggravate the situation and turn it towards an unacceptable direction. The question is what about Armenia’s armament. Where do so many weapons and hardware come from to this poor country? Today, they are smuggling weapons and equipment using some smuggling schemes. And they are very dangerous and very destructive weapons. Therefore, we want answers to these questions, and I am sure we will get them,” the head of state added.