Azerbaijan president: Armenia is ‘fascist state'

BAKU, Azerbaijan

The president of Azerbaijan described Armenia as a "fascist state" Wednesday because of its recent attack on Azerbaijan's civilian settlements where one civilian was killed.

“Armenian forces could not enter Azerbaijan in one centimeter of soil and will never be able to do this,” Ilham Aliyev said during a Cabinet meeting.

Stressing Armenia started clashes at the border Monday and attacked an Azerbaijan position in the Tovuz region, he said, “If we wanted to, we could control most of the land in that region of Armenia today. But we had no such purpose.”

He said the Armenian army opened fire on civilian settlements of Azerbaijan and a 76-year-old civilian was killed.

"This reveals again that Armenia is a fascist state," he said and emphasized Azerbaijan is determined to ensure territorial integrity and will not take a step back in Upper-Karabakh.

Aliyev thanks Turkey, Turkish president, for support

The whole world saw again that people of Turkey and Azerbaijan are real brothers, said Aliyev as he thanked Turkey for its support and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Aliyev criticized Foreign Minister Elmar Memmedyarov, who did not give an adequate response when clashes began at the border.

A total of 11 Azerbaijani soldiers have been martyred, including high-ranking officers, and another four wounded in fighting with Armenian forces since Sunday.

Nearly 100 Armenian soldiers have been killed during the period, according to Kerim Veliyev, Azerbaijan's deputy defense minister. Azerbaijan earlier stated that Armenia hides its casualties.

On Tuesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the Armenian attack, adding that Turkey will not hesitate to stand against any kind of attacks against Azerbaijan.

Upper Karabakh, or Nagorno-Karabakh, an internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan, has been illegally occupied since 1991 through Armenian military aggression.

Four UN Security Council resolutions and two UN General Assembly resolutions as well as decisions by many international organizations refer to this fact and demand the withdrawal of occupational Armenian forces from Upper Karabakh and seven other occupied regions of Azerbaijan.

*Writing by Havva Kara Aydin