“Armenia must abandon the policy of armament. This must come to an end,” Aliyev said on November 8, as quoted by Azerbaijani media. “I have repeatedly said this, and they know that my words must be listened to. They must abandon this before it is too late. They will never be able to compete with us.”
At the same time, the Azerbaijani leader emphasized that Baku does not seek war after “restoring its territorial integrity and state sovereignty.”
Aliyev pointed out that “the history of the 30-year occupation cannot be erased from our memory” and emphasized that “even now we must be ready for any new provocation.”
“Anyone who wants to test our strength once again will be defeated again, will only be humiliated and disgraced, because our victory in the 44-day Patriotic War and the anti-terrorist operation was not only a defeat for Armenia, but also a bitter and humiliating defeat for those who stand behind it,” the Azerbaijani president said, without naming any specific parties.
Nagorno-Karabakh, a former autonomous oblast within Soviet Azerbaijan, enjoyed de facto independence for nearly three decades after breaking away from Baku’s rule following the collapse of the USSR in the early 1990s.
Azerbaijan regained control of much of the breakaway region in a 2020 war in which nearly 7,000 Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers were killed. Thousands of ethnic Armenians then fled their homes, either relocating within Nagorno-Karabakh or moving further to Armenia.
More than 100,000 Karabakh Armenians, the region’s virtually entire remaining population, fled to Armenia in the space of a week following Azerbaijan’s September 2023 assault condemned by the U.S. and the European Union.
Authorities in Yerevan did not immediately respond to Aliyev’s latest warnings. On several occasions in the past Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian defended Armenia’s right to build its armed forces as a sovereign nation. He and other Armenian officials have repeatedly stressed, however, that Armenia has no aggressive intentions toward any of its neighbors, including Azerbaijan, and is arming itself solely for defense purposes. Pashinian has also indicated that Armenia has no claims over Nagorno-Karabakh and will not use military force to try to recapture any sovereign Armenian territories that Yerevan claims were occupied by Azerbaijan in cross-border incursions in 2021-2022. Azerbaijan denies occupying any Armenian territory.
In recent years, Armenia has bolstered its military by purchasing weapons from international partners, including France and India, and is reportedly planning to acquire more modern weaponry, including artillery and air defense missile systems.
At the same time, both Armenia and Azerbaijan are engaged in negotiations aimed at security a peace deal, which both South Caucasus nations say will strengthen security and stability in the region.
The United States and other Western partners of Armenia and Azerbaijan have repeatedly urged the two countries to finalize the peace treaty by the end of this year.