Azerbaijanis rejoice over new Karabakh peace deal
By Vafa Ismayilova
Residents of capital Baku and the country’s regions have been celebrating Azerbaijan’s victory in the Nagorno-Karabakh war since the early hours of 10 November, immediately after President Ilham Aliyev announced the signing of a trilateral peace deal that ended the long-term military conflict with Armenia.
Azerbaijan and Armenia are locked in a conflict over Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh breakaway region, which along with seven adjacent regions was occupied by Armenian forces in a war in the early 1990s. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and around one million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.
Four UN Security Council resolutions urged the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the invading forces from the occupied territories, which Armenia failed to implement.
Celebrations
The news of the victory was greeted with great joy by citizens in the country’s all cities and regions.
After President Ilham Aliyev's address to the nation, citizens took to the streets with Azerbaijani flags to celebrate the victory. The festivities are still going on with great enthusiasm throughout the republic, news sources reported.
A large number of people visited the Martyrs Alley in Baku and other areas to express their gratitude to the martyrs, who died for the liberation of Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan’s other occupied territories.
People holding Azerbaijani flags in hands chant slogans - “Karabakh is Azerbaijan”, “Karabakh is Ours”. Many young people can be seen rejoicing the victory by moving in vehicles decorated with the Azerbaijani and Turkish flags.
In an interview with Azertag, one of the thousands visiting the Martyrs Alley in Baku on November 10, Victory Day, Raya Babayeva said: “This victory was given to us by the brave Azerbaijani army, its heroic soldiers and officers. We have achieved this victory thanks to the great unity of our people, as a fist on the way to the homeland. Finally, we have achieved this victory due to the great and wise and far-sighted policy and titanic activity of our people's greatest son, our beloved President, Victorious Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev. This day is worth living with joy and happiness.”
Azertag correspondent reported from the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic that celebrations have been underway throughout the republic since the early hours of November 10. During the festivities people chant slogans "Long live Victorious Commander-in-Chief!", "Long live the heroic Azerbaijani Army", "Karabakh is Azerbaijan!", "Victory is ours!", "One nation, two states”.
The report added that crowds of people are marching in the central avenues of the city, accompanied by cars lined up. Young people holding President Ilham Aliyev’s portraits, the Azerbaijani and Turkish flags in hands express their pride in the Azerbaijani army and state.
New peace deal
In the morning of 10 November, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia signed an agreement to end the military conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Under the deal, Russian peacekeepers are deployed in the region to patrol frontlines. Turkey will also take part in the peacekeeping process. Turkey and Russia are going to sign a joint agreement on their peacekeeping mission.
Ninety-three Azerbaijani civilians have been killed and hundreds of others have been injured in Armenia's indiscriminate missile attacks on Azerbaijani civilian settlements and cities since September 27.
Since the counter-offensive operations began on September 27, the Azerbaijani army liberated five city centres, three settlements and over 220 villages, as well as some strategic heights from the occupation of Armenian forces.
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