Azerbaijan marks the anniversary of war

Azerbaijan commemorates the anniversary of the start of the six-week war in which more than 2,900 Azerbaijanis were killed and which ended with Azerbaijan regaining control of the vast territories that had been controlled by Armenian-backed ethnic Armenian forces since 1994. Soldiers carrying photographs of those killed in the war marched on Monday in the center of the Azerbaijani capital Baku. The President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyev also joined the march. The memorial ceremony remembering the victims of the war also took place in the Karabakh city of Shushha, which was an important strategic point in the war and which has an exceptional place in the history of Azerbaijan. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan issued a statement accusing the Armenian side of starting the war for Nagorno-Karabakh and further stating that the Armed Forces of the Republic of Azerbaijan had thus responded to the military provocation of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia a year ago. Last year’s war ended when Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pasinjan signed a ceasefire mediated by Russia. Thanks to the ceasefire, Azerbaijan gained control of parts of Nagorno-Karabakh and adjacent areas, which had been also occupied by Armenia.

photo source: eurasianet, president.az