ISLAMABAD : 20 july 2025 – President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev dwelled on Ukraine and Plane Crash in Kazakhstan in his opening interaction with journalist at 3rd Shusha Global Forum held in Khankendi of Karabakh region. He dispelled the Russian claims that it was Ukrainian drone that hit the passemger plane. He has shared that Azerbaijan will take the case against Russia to International Court.
Mr. Dmytro Gordon, journalist and founder of the “Gordon” media in Ukraine asked the question as ;
Mr. President, we in Ukraine watched with great admiration as Azerbaijan regained its lands and territory under your leadership. This is a very inspiring example for us. And, of course, Ukrainians are grateful to you for repeatedly and publicly expressing support for the state sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. This cannot be forgotten. For many years now, we have been living under the most difficult conditions — in a brutal war where the very existence of the Ukrainian state is at stake. What advice could you, as the leader of a victorious nation, give to Ukraine and Ukrainians?
President Ilham Aliyev replied ;
Thank you for your kind words about our country and about what has been done to restore our sovereignty and territorial integrity. I once had the opportunity to answer a question from a representative of Ukraine at an event several years ago, and the question was about the same. And my answer will not differ from what I said then. And I think this is in tune with the aspirations of the Ukrainian people:
” Never to come to terms with occupation. This is the main advice. This is what we did. Or rather, this is how we saw this process.”
We had no money, the treasury was empty, practically no one supported us, we did not have any significant international support from anyone, the economy was in ruins, inflation was at 1000 percent unemployment was rampant, and poverty was probably already close to 100 percent.
This is what Azerbaijan was like when Heydar Aliyev took over, and our people were lucky that there was such a person to whom the people turned in difficult times and who took on this heavy burden. He was not a young man, he was already 70 years old, he was not in very good health, he had suffered a serious illness, and yet it was him who managed to stabilize the situation.
Besides, there was a civil war going on in Azerbaijan then. And gradually, step by step we began to rise, as they say, to revive. And we thought about only one thing – I am sure that the overwhelming majority of our citizens share what I am saying – we thought about how to regain the occupied territories. We understood that it would be difficult. First of all, because of the terrain. You were driving here from Fuzuli, which was liberated on October 17.
After that, our Armed Forces walked on foot along a road that did not exist. Almost in the vicinity of Khankendi they climbed the Shusha cliffs. We proved on the battlefield that we were ready for anything. We were ready to face death and confront five to six lines of fortifications. That is why we all lived with this desire – in order to regain our ancestral territories.
The terrain was against us, the international situation was against us. The OSCE Minsk Group represented by its co-chairs was on the side of Armenia – each for their own reason, and each tried to make this situation last forever. And this status quo did not change. And even when we managed to push through some statement on behalf of the co-chair countries at the cost of incredible diplomatic effort, it was all disavowed again after some time.
As I recall now, we were very enthusiastic about the fact that it was declared at the level of the presidents of the USA, France and Russia that the status quo was unacceptable. And this was a serious statement, we had fought for it for a very long time. But after some time they changed just one word and instead of “unacceptable” they said “unstable”.
That is, they gave us a signal that it turns out to be acceptable. So they kind of dropped the masks by saying that it is acceptable. This was acceptable to Armenia, it was acceptable to the co-chairs of the Minsk Group, and a number of other countries. It was unacceptable only to us.
And a year before the process of negotiations, in which I participated from the end of 2003, for 17 years, there were a lot of proposals, a lot of meetings, maybe not entirely useful, and a lot of messages suggesting that we had to come to terms with this reality. So this was the reality.
President Kazakhstan Orders Comprehensive Investigation of AZAL Air Crash
You have to come to terms with it. And when I said no, it was perceived as a challenge to the powers that be, it was perceived as some kind of inappropriate reaction. And the main narrative was this – well, you see, they don’t agree, they are being offered something in exchange for giving conditional independence to separatists, but they don’t agree.
All our arguments about international law, about the fact that the UN Security Council adopted four resolutions demanding the withdrawal of Armenian forces, about the fact that the Minsk Group co-chairs themselves voted for this resolution – all this crashed against the wall of arrogant lecturing that we should come to terms with reality.
Okay. Then we decided that we would create new realities, and then you would come to terms with them. And that’s what happened. We began to create new realities in 2020, in 44 days. And they were forced to come to terms with them. And then, in September 2023, in just one day, and they were forced to come to terms with that too.
Therefore, I am answering this question a little more broadly in order to reveal what I said at the very beginning. What I said at the very beginning may seem very simple and some kind of evasion, but behind it is what we actually experienced both in the war, at the negotiating table and after we fully restored our sovereignty.
Azerbaijan Russian Presidents Discuss Cooperation on Telephone
If I talk about all the threats, pressure, blackmail and other indecent actions by some foreign actors, it will probably not be a very pleasant sight, especially since this would probably require a separate meeting.
But returning to what I said, never give up and never come to terms with the violation of territorial integrity. Our friend from Uzbekistan asked about my father. You know, he, like all of us, wanted most of all to see this day when we would return to Karabakh. But it didn’t work out. I was president for 17 years before we liberated these territories.
And if we hadn’t had the opportunity, we would probably have waited another 17 years. And this is not about me, and this is also, I think, important for the Ukrainians. It is not about a personality and it is not about ambitions, the point is that you need to feel responsible for the generations that lived before us, feel responsible for those who will live after us.
Our Victory is a fair Victory and a complete Victory. It says that justice exists, you just have to achieve it. And in order to achieve it, you have to work hard every day and bring victory closer with every day. Especially if the final decision depends on you, you have to dedicate your whole life to this, this is the only way it can happen.
And, of course, the most important factor is the consolidation of society. This consolidation gave me such moral strength as President and as Commander-in-Chief that I was sure that society and the people would stand behind me. And that was probably one of the crucial factors.
So I will go back to where I started with – never give up!
On relations with Russia — the question was about the plane incident?
Unfortunately, we have not received any response from Russian officials, though seven months have already passed. For us, everything is clear. We know what happened, and we can prove it. And we know that Russian officials know what happened. The question is: why do they not do what any neighbor would do? Our requests or demands are absolutely natural: – Admit that this accident was their fault; – Punish those who shot down our plane; – Pay compensation to the families of the victims, to those who were wounded, and to AZAL for the loss of the plane.
Fortunately, the pilots demonstrated bravery, courage, and professionalism — they managed to land the plane, so we didn’t lose it. As soon as we sent a team to Aktau to investigate, they reported — and filmed — that the fuselage was full of holes. Two people on board were injured by shrapnel.
So, the idea that it was a Ukrainian drone that possibly hit the plane is absolutely ridiculous.
There were two attacks on the plane. Can you imagine — a Ukrainian drone comes, targets an Azerbaijani plane, hits it, falls down, and then comes back again? That’s a story for kindergarten.
We know what happened. Plus, Russian airspace was not shut down. It was shut down several minutes after the plane was hit. That is also the responsibility of those who failed to announce the “KOVER” operation to close the airspace.
All of that is as clear as today’s sky. But for seven months, we’ve had no answer. Our Prosecutor General regularly sends letters to the head of Russia’s Investigative Committee. All the letters get the same response: “The investigation continues.” So, we will wait until the investigation ends. But I think it is counterproductive to behave this way. It will not lead us to forget. We will not forget.
We are now preparing — and have informed the Russian side — that we are preparing a case to apply to the international judicial system. We know this may take time. The Malaysian Boeing case took more than 10 years. So, we will wait for 10 years. But justice must be achieved. And unfortunately, the current state of this issue is not helpful for bilateral relations between Russia and Azerbaijan.
