A year ago, on September 19, the Ministry of Defense shared a sad news - 9 of our servicemen were martyred as a result of Armenian provocation in Karabakh. In addition to shaking everyone, this news necessitated a decisive operation against the illegal Armenian military and political groups that existed in Karabakh at that time. Before this incident, the Armenians resorted to various provocations in Karabakh, on the conventional border between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Every time our victorious army carried out retaliatory operations against Armenians and the enemy received the deserved punishment. However, it was evident that the Armenians, who have not learned from the punishments they received historically, are not going to give up their hateful and treacherous actions. Mr. Ilham Aliyev of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Azerbaijan repeatedly called on the Armenians not to violate the agreements reached, to reconcile with their defeats and to accept living under the flag of Azerbaijan and under the protection of our laws. Otherwise, he warned, saying, "Iron fist is in place and stronger than before." Unfortunately, the Armenians did not stop their actions. On September 19, the Armenian armed forces in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan committed a series of large-scale military provocations and terrorist attacks.
The Ministry of Defense announced the start of anti-terrorist measures against illegal Armenian groups in Karabakh, as if saying that "revenge should not be left to death, not even tomorrow". This operation, which lasted less than 24 hours, ended with the glorious victory of our army. The enemy completely surrendered by raising a white flag and begged for the safety of our people, whose pardon is as great as his revenge. The statistics of military spoils captured by our army during anti-terrorist measures showed that there is a large number of weapons and ammunition in the enemy's arsenal. Some of the seized weapons became new exhibits of the Military Spoils Park in Baku. As a result of anti-terrorist measures, the junta regime in Karabakh, the so-called "presidents", "ministers" and "generals" who were leading this regime and threatening our people as soon as possible, saying that they would come to Baku in case of war, were arrested one by one. Accompanied by the sons of Azerbaijan, they were put in prison cells with their arms tied, and it became the most circulated news of the world news agencies. The arrest of these Armenians, supported by some states that did not give up their imperialist policy, and various international organizations rooted in Islamophobic activities, was another indicator of the will, strength and principles of our state.
This operation, which ended with the complete defeat of the enemy and minimal losses in less than 24 hours, can be considered a perfect example of world military history. Anti-terrorist measures demonstrated once again that the military strength of Azerbaijan has risen to the level of military power, that the military construction work in our country is perfectly continued, and that the determination of our people to win is unshakable. Anti-terrorist measures put an end to the occupation of our lands. It is true that a large part of our occupied lands had been liberated during the 44-day war. However, the complete completion of this historic mission took place precisely with the anti-terrorist operation.
The numbers 19 and 20 have a strange memory in the history of our people. The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic collapsed in 1920. One of the most tragic days we experienced happened on the night of January 19-20, 1990, and the anti-terrorist measures implemented in Karabakh on September 19-20, 2023. If the first two historical events mentioned had a tragic meaning, the last one gave us the joy of victory. We believe that the era of tragedies we are living through has come to an end. After that day, our victorious Azerbaijan entered a new historical era. The successes achieved by our country in many fields within a year allow us to say this. The one who gave us this joy, success and victories is our martyr who sacrificed his life for the cause of the Motherland. This fact is a clear example of how some nations write their history with ink on the table, and a brave and fighting people like us with blood on the battlefield. Thus, on September 19-20, the new history of independent Azerbaijan began to be written from a new page.
Nizami Valiyev
Institute of Literature named after Nizami Ganjavi
Chief of Civil Defense Headquarters
