From the speech of Great Leader Heydar Aliyev at the ceremonial meeting on the occasion of the National holiday – Republic Day

27 May 1997

When we say Armenia, it is obvious to whom that territory belonged in the past. Most of that area had been the homeland of Azerbaijanis for centuries. They were gradually removed from their ancestral homes, and all of this led to the beginning of Armenia’s military aggression against Azerbaijan in 1988.