5 February 1991
In 1918, the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan was 114 thousand km2. Now our territory is 86 thousand km2. See how much land has gone out of our control. Throughout the centuries, the concept of Motherland has reflected the dignity, identity, and honor of our people. The people fought with their life to protect the sanctity of their land. Our great-grandfathers protected every inch of the Motherland as a symbol of honor and did not even hesitate to sacrifice their lives and children in its path. Unfortunately, we forgot these traditions. This can no longer be tolerated. Therefore, I suggest that we should reclaim our rights not to Nagorno-Karabakh, but to all the lands given to Armenia from the territory of Azerbaijan since 1920. It should be determined by what decisions and by whom these lands were given. We should no longer stand against Armenia in a defensive position, but in an offensive position and, as the deputies said here, we should fight for the return of those lands. Now we have to fight and I am ready for this fight. If the deputies agree, our session should call Armenia an aggressor state. We must accept a special resolution about this and announce it to the whole world. They asked who gave those lands? I propose the clarification. At the same time, I can confirm that from July 14, 1969 (I understood, why they asked me that question), when I was in charge of Azerbaijan, until December 1982, not even an inch of land was given to Armenia. I consider myself very happy for being able to prevent the land claims of Armenians at that time.
