Azerbaijani president claims army has taken control of 24 more villages, city of Zangela

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev made an address to the people earlier today on October 20. Below, the main messages of his speech. Please note, the wording has been left in its original as stated by President Ilham Aliyev. The text below does not reflect JAMnews’ editorial position or opinions.

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• The Azerbaijani army’s main task is to restore territorial integrity.

• Years of negotiations have led nowhere. The Armenians were settling down in the occupied territories and were not going to return them.

• The status quo is gone. We changed it on the battlefield.

• Armenia is shelling peaceful cities, but we are not shelling theirs. We answer them on the battlefield.

• The Azerbaijani people are teaching a lesson to the Armenians, who come up with fairy tales about the fact that terrorists, Turks and someone else are fighting with them. They cannot accept that their myth of invincibility has been debunked by our soldiers.

• Our army destroyed four S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems. Everyone knows how expensive they are. [According to unofficial sources, the S-300 PMU-2 system costs around $250 million in the international market – JAMnews.]

• Ilham Aliyev announced the liberation of new settlements in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan:

Fizuli region: villages of Dyord Chinar, Kurdlyar, Yukhary Abdurrahmanli, Gargabazar, Ashagi Veisalli, Yukhary Aybachanli;

Jebrail region: the villages of Saravsha, Hasangaydy, Fyuganli, Imambagy, Dash Veisalli, Agtepe, Yarakhmedli;

Khojavend region: villages of Agjakend, Mulkyudara, Dashbashy, Guneshli (formerly Norashen), Vank (renamed to Chinarli);

Zangelan region: the villages of Hawaly, Zarbaly, Mammadbeyli, Khakari, Sharifkhan, Muganli and the city of Zangelan.