How to Counter External Threats?

On September 23, President Ilham Aliyev stated at the first session of the Milli Majlis of the VII convocation that foreign circles, unable to accept Azerbaijan's victory in the Second Karabakh War, are preparing new plans. The head of the state also emphasized that ideological subversions against Azerbaijan are ongoing.

The president declared that the number one priority is to strengthen military power: "…the processes happening in the world, new conflicts, the emergence of war zones, rising tensions around us, as well as revanchist tendencies in Armenia, compel us to continuously focus on this area."

The president also addressed the issue of closing land borders:
"I can say with full confidence: the fact that our land borders have remained closed in recent years has saved us from very large catastrophes. Even today, with the borders still closed, dangerous actions are being attempted, and they are being stopped. Therefore, border protection will shield us from external risks."

These points were commented on by political analyst Ahmet Alili in the program "Complex Question."

According to him, when President Ilham Aliyev spoke about foreign circles plotting against Azerbaijan at the first session of the Milli Majlis of the VII convocation, he primarily referred to the neighboring countries—Russia and Iran.

Further, Alili noted that the head of state also hinted that Armenia's purchase of weapons poses a threat to Azerbaijan's security.

"Ilham Aliyev mentioned that Western countries are massively arming Armenia and conducting military exercises with it. This is happening both openly, as in the case of military cooperation between France and Armenia, and secretly. Recently, the media reported on the supply of lethal weapons to Armenia by the United States through third countries," the expert said.

He recalled that the U.S. embassy in Armenia and, shortly afterward, the U.S. embassy in Azerbaijan made statements denying the validity of this information, asserting that stability in the region and the achievement of lasting peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia are of primary importance to the U.S.

However, according to Alili, the head of Azerbaijan holds a different perspective. "It is evident that there are strong grounds for this," the political analyst concluded, adding that all of this is happening against the backdrop of Washington’s attempts to mediate the Azerbaijani-Armenian peace negotiations.