BAKU, Azerbaijan

It has been nearly three years since Azerbaijan launched an operation to liberate the Karabakh region and surrounding provinces from Armenian occupation.

Azerbaijan had launched a counter-offensive operation, later dubbed "Iron Fist," which led to the 44-day conflict ending with the liberation of Azerbaijani lands from the occupation of the Armenian forces for 30 years.

Azerbaijan's move came after years of negotiations failed to yield results, even amid continued harassment by Armenian forces, increasing attacks, and provocative statements by Yerevan.

The 28-year activity of the OSCE Minsk Group, co-chaired by Russia, the US, and France, carried out the negotiation process to no avail.

Though Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev stressed that he wanted a peaceful resolution to the dispute, he always said that if this could not be achieved, they had the right to take back the lands militarily. When the negotiations yielded no results, Baku exercised its rights arising from international law.

During the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. In the early 1990s, it attacked and occupied Karabakh and seven surrounding provinces.

As a result of the occupation, approximately 1 million Azerbaijanis had to leave their lands, while UN Security Council resolutions demanding Armenia's "immediate and unconditional exit" from the occupied territories were not implemented.  

Provocative statements by Yerevan

As Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan maintained the stance of previous administrations on the occupation, negotiations under the OSCE Minsk Group came to a halt.

Azerbaijan reacted to Pashinyan's statement that "Karabakh belongs to Armenia" and the then-Armenian Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan's call for a "new war for new lands.”

In addition to these provocative remarks, Armenia continued its attacks against Azerbaijan along the line of contact. On July 12, 2020, the Armenian army launched an attack to capture strategic positions near the northern Tovuz province.

The Azerbaijani army repelled this attack, though Maj. Gen. Polad Hashimov was killed in the intense days-long fighting. Over Hashimov's death, Azerbaijanis protested Armenia's attacks, which became a signal for the liberation of the occupied lands.

The Azerbaijani military intensified its exercises and held joint drills with the Turkish Armed Forces in August and September of that year.

Armenian forces made a comprehensive provocation along the front line at around 6 a.m. local time (0200GMT) on Sept. 27, opening fire on Azerbaijani army positions and civilian settlements with large-caliber weapons, artillery, and mortars.

Armenia's intense bombardment caused civilian and military casualties and damaged infrastructure in some regions.

By the order of Aliyev, the Azerbaijani army launched a counter-attack along the entire front. On the first day of the operation, Azerbaijan liberated six villages and some strategic hills.

Similar achievements were announced throughout the 44 days of the Second Karabakh War, which Azerbaijanis call the "Homeland War," ending on Nov. 10, when Armenia signed the declaration accepting its defeat.

The Azerbaijani army liberated five cities, four towns, and 286 villages from occupation, and, in accordance with the signed declaration, its army had to leave the provinces of Kalbajar, Lachin, and Aghdam.

Over 2,900 Azerbaijani soldiers were killed in the war, with the country declaring Sept. 27, the beginning day of the operation, Martyrs' Memorial Day.   

Full sovereignty achieved after 3 years

Armenia, which was defeated in the Second Karabakh war, withdrew some of its armies from Azerbaijan but left a portion and a large number of arms and ammunition to the illegal so-called Armenian regime that continues to exist in Karabakh.

Yerevan ignored Baku's demands for it to withdraw its armies and from the so-called regime in Karabakh to give up its claims and dissolve itself.

Though Azerbaijan established a checkpoint on the border with Armenia to prevent illegal crossings on April 23 this year, Armenian forces continued their provocations both on the border and in Karabakh.

On Sept. 19, six Azerbaijani citizens, including four police officers, were killed by mines laid by illegal Armenian forces. Azerbaijan responded with an "anti-terrorist operation" to re-establish the constitutional structure in Karabakh.

During the 24-hour operation, Armenian troops and illegal forces laid down their arms. The Armenian soldiers, who retreated from their positions, handed over their weapons to the Azerbaijani army.

Baku simultaneously started integration negotiations with representatives of Armenian-origin residents of Karabakh. Thus, in the words of President Aliyev, Azerbaijan "fully established its sovereignty" in the region.

Today, President Aliyev and Prime Minister Pashinyan are set to meet on Oct. 5 in the Spanish city of Granada to discuss the signing of a peace treaty between the two countries.  

*Writing by Gozde Bayar in Ankara