Ilham Aliyev today once again asserted that Azerbaijanis must return to Armenia, emphasizing that this should not frighten the Armenian people and state. Speaking at an event dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the founding of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijani leader assured that his people, "unlike some," are not prone to separatism and contribute to the prosperity of the land where they reside.

"Our people have contributed to the statehood of the countries they live in, and today, in no country do Azerbaijanis create or will they create problems for any state or any other people. Therefore, the return of Azerbaijanis to modern-day Armenia should not frighten the Armenian people and state," Aliyev stated.

Speaking about the return, the President of Azerbaijan reiterated his previously voiced thought that Azerbaijanis should return to Armenia "not with tanks, but with cars." Only this time, Aliyev gave a special instruction to Azerbaijani scholars and state structures: "to work towards achieving this."

"Unfortunately, for many years, the Armenian side and the diaspora have distorted our history, and this propaganda continues. We must counter it with our scientific truths. Old Russian imperial maps from the early 20th century clearly show that almost all place names in the area—all regions of present-day Armenia—are of Azerbaijani origin. There is no Lake Sevan; there is Goycha," Aliyev said.

Despite declarations of peace and documents signed in Washington last August, the President of Azerbaijan once again leveled accusations against Armenians and insisted that Azerbaijan achieved an unprecedented, "brilliant, complete, and absolute victory" in the 44-day war.

"Our scholars must work to disseminate historical truths," noted Aliyev, according to whom Azerbaijan has a centuries-old history, while Armenians were brought from Iran by the Russians: "We did not create these maps; they were compiled by Tsarist Russia, which brought Armenians from Iran and Eastern Anatolia, resettled them in Karabakh to change the ethnic composition. These maps reflect the historical truth. We must study and disseminate them."

Asserting that Azerbaijani statehood has a centuries-old history, Aliyev instructed the scholars "to increase the number of scientific works studying and glorifying the history of Azerbaijan."