Arming Armenia will simply lead to new tensions. We do not want this. We want peace.

Axar.az reports that these remarks were made by President Ilham Aliyev during an interview with local television channels on January 7.

Highlighting that Armenia is, in fact, a source of threat to the region, the head of state noted:

"We want the war page to be closed. However, we see that both Armenia itself and its new patrons do not want this. They live with ideas of revenge, and Armenia is actually a source of threat to the region. The independent Armenian state is actually a fascist state. Because if this country has been led by proponents of fascist ideology for nearly 30 years, they have shaped this country the way they did. Now look, the racist and fascist statements of the first president of Armenia are as ugly as they are dangerous. He portrays ethnic cleansing as a source of pride, bragging about the expulsion of Azerbaijanis from their historical ancestral lands. This video, as they say, has now been made public. But, of course, they knew this in Armenia. Armenia's allies and supporters, of course, knew and shared these views. The 30-year occupation policy against us is not simply a product of Armenia, but a joint product of Islamophobic, Azerbaijanophobic, racist, xenophobic circles, and representatives of foreign countries who are in solidarity with it."

The President reminded that our country is neighboring a fascist state and that the danger of fascism is not going away:

"Therefore, fascism must be destroyed. Either the Armenian leadership will destroy it or we will. We have no other choice. Again, 30 years of occupation, the suffering of our people, the Khojaly genocide, the ravaged and devastated Karabakh – all this is before our eyes. Who can guarantee that this will not happen again? No one! Because the first three leaders of Armenia are proponents of fascist ideology. The current leader of Armenia, as I said, now wants to make a dove of peace out of himself. But look, no one wants to recall his speeches in 2018-2019 now. Even its friends in France do not want to give it up. So this ideology lives there, and its carriers are not just the current Armenian opposition, but the Armenian government.

I want to say again that we cannot just watch this as observers. Armenia must immediately stop arming. France and other countries that provide it with weapons must terminate and cancel these contracts. The weapons that have already been sent to Armenia must be returned. This is our condition. Let them take it as they please. I give my word, they know it, and those behind them know that if we say something, then we are already taking this issue very seriously."