The contemptible enemy was forced to retreat even though they had a favorable position, the natural terrain of the area was a great advantage to them and they had built five to six lines of defensive fortifications in 30 years. During the 44-day war, not a single soldier deserted from the Azerbaijani Armed Forces. However, there were more than 10,000 deserters in the Armenian army, Victorious Commander-in-Chief, President Ilham Aliyev Ilham Aliyev said in his address to the nation on the occasion of the Remembrance Day, Azertag reports.

“We are proud of our martyrs and wounded veterans, as well as our soldiers and officers who showed heroism in the Patriotic War. Their heroism and self-sacrifice will never be forgotten. We have shown the whole world that the Azerbaijani people are a great nation, the Azerbaijani people never intended to come to terms with this injustice”, the head of state has said.

Emphasizing that the 44-day Patriotic War was a celebration of national will, national spirit and national dignity President has said: “We won the battle on the battlefield. More than 300 towns and villages were liberated on the battlefield. We achieved this victory by shedding blood and offering martyrs, and we forced the enemy to kneel before us and sign the act of capitulation, an enemy that had been challenging us for 30 years, had been trying to trample on the honor and dignity of the Azerbaijani people for 30 years. The impudent, furious and impertinent enemy knelt before us, waved the white flag, surrendered and was forced to sign an act of capitulation in the early hours of 9 November. As a result of that, hundreds of towns and villages were returned to us without a single shot being fired or a single person becoming a martyr”.