Full restoration of sovereignty is a long political process

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- Tofig muallim, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Russia signed a statement on the cessation of military operations carried out for the liberation of occupied Nagorno-Karabakh and 7 surrounding districts. Russia's role here is interesting. Why Russia? And to what extent is Russia's role in this issue?

- First, it is not only Russia that is ruling the region with this conflict. There are other forces too. But this management system is very complicated. In this regard, the strengthening of Russia's position at this stage is not a permanent factor, but a temporary one. Here, the main parameters of the conflict management system applied against Azerbaijan and Armenia have changed radically. Previously, these parameters were not in favor of Azerbaijan. As a result of these parameters, Azerbaijan was in a very difficult humanitarian situation. After the signing and implementation of the tripartite statement, we must take into account that about 90-95 percent of IDPs will have the opportunity to return to their homes. The number of IDPs from the areas not liberated and under the control of peacekeepers is about 5-10 thousand people. That is, from a humanitarian point of view, a large part of Azerbaijan's sovereignty is being restored. Unfortunately, we have not yet reached the level of completely resolving this conflict. In this sense, we see that the process of restoring sovereignty will continue. Of course, Russia's leading role in this process is sometimes positive and sometimes negative. Much will depend on the policy pursued by Azerbaijan. In other words, much depends on what concrete steps will be taken, and within what framework, the policy will be established.

- One of the interesting points is that when the territories bordering with Armenia were liberated from occupation, Russian flags were spotted out on the Armenian side of the border. Now, more Russian flags are seen in that the part of Nagorno-Karabakh, which has not been liberated. What does this mean?

- We pay a lot of attention to the elements that have an external effect. If we look at the previous situation, we will see behind what thesis the Armenians were hiding their annexation policy. The main thesis was that they were allegedly the guarantors of the security of the Armenian population living there. As a result of the implementation of this statement, they have lost the role of the military provider of this population as the Armenian state. This is great progress as a result of our policy and struggle. Those who are officially providing security are Russian peacekeepers now, and those who are involved in this process are Turkish observers. We must understand that the Armenian population living in that region is a factor in the conflict. Their fate can be of two kinds. Either they would be subjected to the ethnic cleansing they imposed on us in time, or they would migrate by becoming internally displaced persons. The third option is that Russian peacekeepers and Turkish observers will temporarily provide security for them, according to a scenario applied by forces outside the region. This process must logically result in the fact that at some stage, they will be forced to accept the provision of security by the Azerbaijani state, and then sovereignty will be fully restored. This is the essence of the process, regardless of whether the flags are there.

- The main question for everyone is what will be the governance in the remaining areas? Will Russia control? Will Armenia control? Will the so-called regime control? Or Azerbaijan? So who will have the main governance there?

- I almost explained the essence of the process. I explained the direction of the establishment of peace and the settlement of the conflict in the form of a thesis. At this stage, we must understand that the full restoration of Azerbaijan's sovereignty in these territories is a long political process. Because, in fact, we must admit that the arrival of Russian peacekeepers protected us from great danger. Both the Armenian population and us as a state. If we examine the media in Russia and the West, we can see that as soon as the fighting began in Khankendi, such a propaganda campaign could have started that the second genocide would take place. No matter how much we could try to prove that it was not our goal, it is clear that this provocation would be carried out against Azerbaijan. It was a dangerous issue. Even very dangerous. Because Azerbaijan's current and universally accepted position was in full compliance with international law. But if this stage had begun, we would have been accused and the essence of our Patriotic War would have been completely changed through propaganda. In this regard, the presence of Russian peacekeepers there protected us from these provocations. This is actually a positive thing. Now Azerbaijan's sovereignty must be restored in these territories not by military means, but by political means. That is, the process is changing. Earlier, as a result of military operations, the selflessness of the Azerbaijani army, and the courage of the soldiers, we passed some stage. We have almost eliminated the Armenian factor in this conflict on a large scale. But instead, the temporary presence of peacekeepers there from a military point of view will allow us to use economic, political, and humanitarian steps, using the tools of peace and politics, and to restore the sovereignty of Azerbaijan there. That is the goal. We must see this process very clearly. Because at this stage, there are different opinions. The emotions caused by the war and the casualties in the public can be understood. But the policy of the state should not be based on emotions. If we want to fully restore sovereignty, which is our main goal, at this stage, this struggle must continue through political means.

- The President says that Nagorno-Karabakh will not have status. But we still hear from Russian officials about the status. By the way, after arriving in Nagorno-Karabakh, the commander of Russian peacekeepers, Rustam Muradov, met with the head of the so-called regime, which Azerbaijan recognizes as a criminal. What does it mean? Will Nagorno-Karabakh have status now or in the future? If so, what status will it be at best?

- If we take the essence of the word, status means situation. Russia and other parties do not voice their views on political status. We are talking about de facto status. We are talking about the status that some peacekeeping forces will remain there, Azerbaijani laws will work, and so on. As it is in other regions of the republic, so be it there. Only the Armenian population living there can live there by following these rules. But some process must take place to achieve this. Sometimes it is said that there must be some special conditions to ensure their security and national identity. This issue is raised by both foreign countries and Armenians. But we must carry out future political processes in accordance with our legislation. What do I mean? For example, France expresses the opinion: What will be the status of Armenians? 600,000 Armenians live in France. There are not so many Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh. Of course, we can logically ask, if you support this position, what privileges have you been given to Armenians? Are there any privileges? How is this policy established in your country? Can you give us some useful advice? We can ask the same question to Russia too. 3 million Armenians live in Russia. Were they given privileges at any level? That is, I do not rule out the continuation of such discussions at this stage. The occupying administration created by Armenia and its leader has committed a crime against Azerbaijan. Of course, in the future, we will try to punish these people for their crimes through the courts. If this is not done, of course, it does not seem ready to cooperate with these attacks. Maybe an amnesty will be announced, as in Chechnya. That is, there are many ways. Relations with peacekeepers now need to be seen as a practical contact so that de facto processes can take place. First of all, the processes envisaged in this tripartite statement must be implemented. Of course, these contacts are necessary for the de facto implementation. These contacts are temporary and depend on future political processes. And the second issue. We must now focus more on the territories that have returned to Azerbaijani control. Works must be done in Aghdam, Kalbajar, Shusha, and other areas. About 90-95 percent of IDPs will have the right to return to their homes as a result of the implementation of the provisions of the statement. This is a big job. Let's do this, populate people there, ensure their security, restore the functioning of government agencies, and then implement the remaining issues in a consistent manner and fully restore sovereignty.

- Is the conflict over? Has Azerbaijan been able to fully restore its territorial integrity and sovereignty? What should be done to complete this issue and fully restore Azerbaijan's sovereignty?

- The conflict is not over yet. Its military phase is over. That is, we have almost neutralized the consequences, the main elements of the military aggression against us. And we have almost liberated the main occupied territories. We have almost eliminated the consequences of the military aggression of the Republic of Armenia against us. In particular, I want to note that the Armenian army will be evacuated not only from Kalbajar, Aghdam, Lachin but also from areas under the control of peacekeeping forces. We must understand this. If anyone stays there, they may be locals, not Nikol Pashinyan's son who came from Armenia. This should be controlled by peacekeeping forces in the Lachin corridor. If we demand it, we will completely liberate our territories from the occupiers. Then, after all these processes have taken place, we will disarm the illegally formed military units there, try to involve them in one way or another in other political processes, and look at what happened as a result. We have to imagine this process in this way. A great political process is needed in the future to achieve these demands and desires. Both diplomatic and economic, etc. That is, we must clearly understand that the struggle is not over.