"Actually, Azerbaijan does not intend to solve the issues that have not been resolved on the table by military means. However, if the Armenian side does not fulfill its obligations and the Russian peacekeepers do not ensure that the conditions of the joint statement are fulfilled to the last point of its articles, then the next stage of the "Revenge" retaliatory operation carried out by Azerbaijan earlier may be inevitable.

Military expert Adalat Verdiyev said these words in his statement to Ednews regarding President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev's interview to local television yesterday that "we must complete the unfinished works".

"When President Ilham Aliyev expressed it in his television interview, he meant the non-removal of Armenian armed forces from Karabakh, the provision of unhindered movement between Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan, the non-commencement of Azerbaijan's state structures in the territories temporarily controlled by the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Karabakh, the delimitation of the borders between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and the signing of a peace treaty. All of these are among the priorities on Azerbaijan's agenda and are our possible goals to be realized in the near future" he said.

The expert, clarifying the issue raised by the President Aliyev regarding the eco-protest actions, noted that there can be no talk of a return unless the ongoing protests on the Shusha-Khankendi road reach a definite result.

"Continuation of protest actions is of course expected. This was mentioned by the participants of the action many times. The country's president is also fully satisfied with their activities. Because their objections are completely justified. Therefore, until the demands of the protesters are not fulfilled, they will not change their position and will continue the protests. I believe that these actions will be able to reach their logical end."

In addition, A.Verdiyev touched on the positions of Russia and the West in the steps to be taken in accordance with the joint statement regarding Karabakh and Zangezur in the priorities of 2023. He stressed that neither the West nor Russia had any influence on the processes.

"A mechanism of Western and Russian influence on Azerbaijan regarding Karabakh does not exist. Because there is a joint statement in the middle, and in that statement, everything is written concretely, and it is very important for the Azerbaijani side to be unconditionally fulfilled. I think these issues should be resolved at least by the termination of the joint statement, that is, by the last month of 2025. For this reason, it is possible to nominate the year 2023 as a date when quite positive events are expected take place.

In addition, I do not think that Russia should try to break relations with Azerbaijan, Turkiye and even the organization of the Turkish state due to the small territory and separatist forces in Karabakh. Of course, Russia has certain interests and they try to protect their interests in the region as much as possible. But Russia tries to protect these interests as well. If it is not possible, as in the case of Farrukh, Kirkhgiz, Sarıbaba, Lachin, Sus, Zabukh and Buzdukh, Russia will be forced to retreat.

By Elnur Enveroglu