One year has passed since the beginning of the Patriotic War. We have left behind a year of unity like an iron fist. Within a year, our country has achieved great success, under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev, our valiant Army liberated our occupied lands, and our territorial integrity was restored. As a result of the 44-day Patriotic War, Azerbaijan created new realities in the region with its victory. Now Azerbaijan is the winning state in the region. As a victorious state, Azerbaijan looks to the future and is successfully moving towards future goals. Reconstruction work is being carried out rapidly in our liberated lands.

In an interview with Anadolu Agency on the anniversary of the Great Patriotic War, President Ilham Aliyev drew attention to the factors that led to the war, gave detailed information about the events in the region and future goals. The President"s interview with Anadolu Agency, like other interviews, was full of comprehensive and targeted messages.

The President noted that recently Armenia"s provocations against Azerbaijan have become regular. Statements against Azerbaijan, as well as steps taken, showed that Armenia is preparing for a new war. Because in July, Armenia committed a military provocation on the Azerbaijani-Armenian border, and as a result of this provocation, 13 civilians and servicemen were killed. At that time, Azerbaijan responded to the enemy, but did not cross the state border. Then, in August, a provocative group was sent, crossed the line of contact, and there our soldiers disarmed them.

President Ilham Aliyev linked Armenia"s defeat to the incompetence and insidious intentions of official Yerevan, and said that when he returned a year ago, there was an opportunity to analyze all these processes, all these events more accurately. It seems that the new leadership of Armenia wanted to achieve some military success. However, they made very wrong calculations, made a big mistake, and as a result suffered a bitter defeat.

In almost all his interviews, the head of state draws attention to the double standards and the policy of hypocrisy pursued at the international level, and touches on the reasons for the failure to resolve the conflict legally. In an interview with Anadolu Agency, President Ilham Aliyev also commented on the activities of the international mediators - the Minsk Group.

The head of state said that international mediators could prevent the war. “If the Minsk Group put serious pressure on Armenia in time, of course, Armenia would be forced to withdraw from the occupied territories, and in this case there would be no need for war. But they did not put pressure on him. However, the

three co-chairs of the Minsk Group are permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. That is, they are the most powerful countries in the world”.

The President also spoke about his repeated appeals and proposals to the Minsk Group co-chairs and other major powers. He stressed: “I have repeatedly called for sanctions against Armenia. This could have prevented the war. Because these sanctions would cause great difficulties for Armenia and they would be forced to leave our land. That is, we used all opportunities to resolve it peacefully, without war and without bloodshed. But at the same time, I said that we will not accept this situation. We would liberate our land at any cost and simply give it a chance.

The observational approach of the international mediators led to the outbreak of war. Of course, the main responsibility here lies with Armenia”.

As President Ilham Aliyev noted, looking at the past years, it is possible to analyze all these events and processes more accurately. Armenia"s new leadership, which came to power in 2018, dealt a serious blow to the negotiation process. Their inappropriate and irresponsible statements and behavior made the discussion process unnecessary. Against the background of what happened, the Minsk Group had to act more responsibly and act more seriously. Nevertheless, we have not witnessed practical steps taken by the Minsk Group. Analyzing all this, President Ilham Aliyev accurately expressed the activities of the group, gave the right assessment: "Time has shown that the Minsk Group simply did not intend to resolve this issue."

If the Minsk Group wanted to resolve the conflict, then they would put serious pressure on Armenia and take practical steps.

President Ilham Aliyev also touched upon the activities of the Minsk Group during the post-war period. The head of state said very harshly that the organization that has not seen the occupation for 30 years, and now does not, is either blind or hypocritical. During the thirty-year occupation, only two fact-finding missions were sent and a report was prepared. All the crimes of the Armenians were mentioned in the report. The last such mission was carried out about 10 years ago. Azerbaijan has repeatedly appealed to the Minsk Group and its co-chairs to send another mission. Because illegal settlement was carried out there, Armenians were brought from Syria, Lebanon and other places. This is a war crime. According to all international conventions, this is a war crime.

Addressing the world community, the President once again stated that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is over and there is no administrative territory called "Nagorno-Karabakh". For this reason, the term "Nagorno-Karabakh" is no longer appropriate. There is no such institution or administrative territory in Azerbaijan. There is the Karabakh zone, there is the Eastern Zangazur.

President Ilham Aliyev also clarified the future mission of the Minsk Group. He made proposals on areas in which they could operate. The head of state said that new issues should be raised today for the activities of the Minsk Group: “That is, the issue - the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is over. What can happen? In my opinion, that is, confidence-building measures, followed by the opening of roads, the opening of corridors, support for the peace process, the regulation of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations, trying to sign the peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan that we are proposing. That is, in my opinion, their sphere of activity should be after this day. "