The President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, in an interview given to the Al-Arabiya TV channel, returned to the events of 1920 and recalled that “the Russian army invaded Azerbaijan and occupied the country.” According to him, the Bolsheviks who carried out the 1917 revolution deceived the people with slogans such as “factories and plants — to the workers, land — to the peasants, freedom — to the peoples,” as a result of which “We built our state. But the Bolsheviks took it away from us,” Aliyev emphasized.
The president also separately noted that after the Russian Empire was fragmented, the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was established: “We built our state. But the Bolsheviks took it away from us,” he said, linking the historical facts with today’s political context.
A large part of the conversation was devoted to the topic of the conflict with Armenia — it was precisely in this setting that Aliyev recalled the historical realities. He also used the word “invasion” when speaking about the war between Russia and Ukraine: “From the first days of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, we supported Ukraine’s territorial integrity and we continue to support it,” the president said.
The head of Azerbaijan also mentioned that in recent times relations between Baku and Moscow have “cooled.” Aliyev expressed his position as follows: “We are not responsible for the deterioration of relations. We give a constructive and lawful response, but we will never allow signs or manifestations of aggression or disrespect towards us.”
In short, Aliyev’s statements to Al-Arabiya brought together at one point historical memory, the current geopolitical reality, and the principles of balance in relations: the characterization of 1920, open support for Ukraine, and maintaining in dialogue with Russia a “lawful, constructive, but firm” approach.
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