BAKU. Nov 11 (Interfax) - Azerbaijan intends to turn to international courts to seek compensation from Armenia for the damage it has caused in Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said at a meeting with military service members wounded in the Karabakh conflict zone.
Aliyev said he has ordered that the damage be calculated.
"The relevant groups have been mobilized, and international experts will be invited as well. Material and moral damage will be evaluated with assistance from foreign experts, and we'll submit our cases to courts, both on behalf of some private individuals and in a collective format," he said.
Aliyev described the trilateral agreement between Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Russia on ceasing the hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh starting on November 10 as Yerevan's de facto capitulation.
Aliyev said he first insisted on signing the agreement publicly with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's participation. However, Aliyev said Russian President Vladimir Putin asked him not to insist on this, and he agreed.
The Azerbaijani military operation in Nagorno-Karabakh was necessary as the negotiating process could not resolve the Karabakh conflict in the way sought by Baku, Aliyev said.
"Military victories on the battlefield have enabled us to achieve victories at the negotiating table. Had we not achieved this victory on the battlefield, I don't believe the invader would have left the other lands. The enemy, which has employed all kinds of tricks for 30 years to hold the occupied lands, planned to keep those lands occupied forever, and so we had no chance of achieving anything through negotiations," he said.
The Azerbaijani leader thanked Turkey for supporting Azerbaijan during the military operation in Nagorno-Karabakh.
"I've repeatedly thanked my dear brother, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, recently. We talked on the phone once again yesterday," Aliyev said.
"Turkey's political and moral support played a great role in achieving this victory. Because the president's words that 'Azerbaijan is not alone, and Turkey is beside it,' which he spoke in the first hours, deterred many from intervening in this conflict," Aliyev said.