Dec 1, 2020 1:52 PM EDT
BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — Azerbaijan on Tuesday completed reclaiming territory held by Armenian forces for more than a quarter-century after a peace deal ended six weeks of fierce fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev hailed the restoration of control over the areas as a “historic victory” and a demonstration of his nation’s “unbending spirit.”
“We all lived with one dream, and now we fulfilled it,” Aliyev said in an address to the nation. “We won a victory on the battlefield and in the political arena, and that victory opens a new era for our country. It will be an era of development, security and progress.”