Aliyev Threatens War with Armenia in Twitter Rant

BAKU — The president of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has threatened to resume war against the Armenian “barbarians and vandals” over Nagorno-Karabakh through a long Twitter rant.

The worst clashes on NKR frontlines left at least 15 Azeri soldiers dead in recent days.

Employing his utmost belligerent rhetoric, Aliyev declared that “just as we have beaten the Armenians on the political and economic fronts, we are able to defeat them on the battlefield”.

On Wednesday, Aliyev sought to put a brave face on heavy casualties suffered by the Azerbaijani military as he visited an army unit stationed east of Karabakh and met with soldiers serving there. He again pledged to win back not only Karabakh and surrounding Armenian-controlled territories but also “historic Azerbaijani lands” allegedly making up much of modern-day Armenia.

“A week ago Armenian occupation forces cowardly attacked our positions under the cover of darkness,” Aliyev said in remarks posted on his website late on Wednesday, several hours after official statements on his visit to the frontline. “We suffered losses, our soldiers became martyrs … At the same time, the enemy got an adequate response.”

“Today the enemy is in a state of panic and hysteria,” he claimed. “We know that. We have sufficient possibilities of knowing what’s happening on the opposite side. We have fully gained a military and moral advantage.”

Aliyev and his Armenian counterpart, president Serzh Sarkisian, are due to meet with Russian president Vladimir Putin on Friday in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi to discuss a settlement.

Read the tweets below.

Just as we have beaten the Armenians on the political and economic fronts, we are able to defeat them on the battlefield.

— Ilham Aliyev (@presidentaz) August 7, 2014

The Armenian barbarians and vandals have razed the city of Agdam to the ground. he ruins of the city of Agdam are clearly visible from here.
— Ilham Aliyev (@presidentaz) August 7, 2014

We will restore all of the occupied and destroyed cities. We will return to this land, we live and will live with this idea.

— Ilham Aliyev (@presidentaz) August 7, 2014