Azerbaijan observed Victory Day Wednesday, the third anniversary of its defeat of Armenia in a 2020 war to retake its occupied territory of Karabakh.
President Ilham Aliyev oversaw a military parade in Khankendi, which Armenians refer to as Stepanakert, the main city of Karabakh. Khankendi was liberated from the Armenian separatists in September, the last phase of the efforts to fully liberate the city which had been invaded after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Azerbaijani troops and a military band passed by the central square of Khankendi to mark the day, near the building that was used as the headquarters of Armenian separatists. Azerbaijani flags adorned the building.
Baku and Yerevan fought two wars over Azerbaijani enclave, in 2020 and the 1990s.
Azerbaijan's crushing victory in a six-week war with Armenia, saw Baku recapture swathes of its lands which Armenian forces had controlled for three decades. In September, Azerbaijan launched a lightning offensive to drive away remnants of the separatists. The one-day offensive concluded with another victory for Azerbaijan and separatist leaders either turned themselves in or were captured by Azerbaijani forces days later. Azerbaijan and Armenia pursue peace talks through international mediation but talks have so far failed to produce a breakthrough.
On the occasion of the Victory Day celebrations, marches were also held in the capital Baku, in which soldiers and veterans of the conflict participated and those killed during the war were commemorated with a moment of silence. Marches were also held in the cities of Ganja, Barda, Fuzuli, Lachin, and Zangilan.
Most of the Karabakh region, which had been under Armenian occupation for nearly three decades, was liberated by Azerbaijan during a 44-day war in the fall of 2020, which ended after a Russian-brokered peace agreement and also opened the door to normalization with Yerevan. On Nov. 8, the Azerbaijani army liberated the city of Shusha, which was later declared as Victory Day by a presidential decree.
Initially, Victory Day was to be celebrated on Nov. 10, the day of the end of the Second Karabakh War, but this was later canceled due to coinciding with the anniversary of the passing of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Republic of Türkiye, the major ally of Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that eight villages in liberated Karabakh were still under Armenian occupation. "Armenia chose the path of enduring to menace the peace process, lives of our citizens, restoration and reconstruction work carried out in the region ... Armenia also refused to hand over eight Azerbaijani villages, which are still under occupation," said a statement by the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry on the occasion of Victory Day.
The ministry said that despite its obligations, Armenia continued to provide military support to separatist forces in the Karabakh region amid peace talks. It further emphasized that the separatist forces in the region ignored Azerbaijan's warnings at various levels and platforms, and increased their provocations back in September, resulting in the counterterrorism operation that restored the country's full sovereignty over its territories. "Currently, after the existence of the Armenian Armed Forces and the puppet regime created by Armenia in our territories were brought to an end, there are ample opportunities for peace and stability in the region," the statement said.
"Armenia must finally recognize that there is no alternative to peace and cooperation in the region," noting that Azerbaijan calls on Armenia to demonstrate a "constructive and just position in the peace process and to understand the realities in the region properly," the statement added.