“As a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and First Deputy Chairman of the Soviet Government in 1982-87, Heydar Aliyev always paid great attention and care to Azerbaijan. As a result of this care and attention, Azerbaijan was successfully developing in those years,” said President Ilham Aliyev as he addressed the Azerbaijani nation, News.Az reports. 

“The tragedies of the Azerbaijani people began after Heydar Aliyev had left the political stage. In 1987, less than two weeks after his resignation, Armenian nationalists and their patrons in the Soviet government raised the issue of withdrawing the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast from Azerbaijan and annexing it to Armenia. The tragedies of the Azerbaijani people began on that day. There is no doubt that if Heydar Aliyev had been in power, Armenian nationalists would never have dared to resort to such dirty deeds,” the head of state noted.

News.Az