'We are closer to peace with Armenia than ever before': Azerbaijani leader

Azerbaijan's president said on Thursday that they achieved "historical justice" over the last several years by liberating the country's Karabakh region from occupation and added: "We are closer to peace with Armenia than ever before. The South Caucasus has never been so close to peace."

Speaking at the opening of a forum in Azerbaijan's capital Baku, Ilham Aliyev spoke about the runup to the fall 2020 second Karabakh war, in which Azerbaijan liberated most of the Nagorno-Karabakh region from decades of occupation by its neighbor Armenia.

He highlighted the successes of the war as well as counter-terrorism operations carried out last September and said: "Today, we are closer to peace with Armenia than ever before. The South Caucasus has never been so close to peace. This was thanks to the second Karabakh war."

Stating that they confiscated about $6 billion worth of weapons and ammunition, Aliyev said: "All these weapons were given to Armenia free of charge."

"We have achieved historical justice. Now it's time to end hostility in the region," he added.

'ALL OF FRANCE'S EFFORTS FAILED'

Aliyev underscored France's anti-Azerbaijan stance, saying its efforts to impose sanctions on the country "amounted to nothing" and that his country "had done nothing against international law."

Criticizing France, Aliyev said despite requests, France did not repair the vandalized statue of 19th century Azerbaijani poet Khurshidbanu Natavan in Evian-les-Bains, southeastern France.

Various dignitaries including Aliyev and former Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım attended 11th Global Baku Forum in the capital.

The forum aims to address how to rebuild the fragmented world with around 400 participants from 68 countries.

Relations between Baku and Yerevan have remained tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

Most of the territory was liberated by Azerbaijan during a war in the fall of 2020, which ended after a Russian-brokered peace agreement that also opened the door to normalization.

Azerbaijan established full sovereignty in Karabakh after an "anti-terrorism operation" in September 2023, after which separatist forces in the region surrendered.