"We were part of the USSR, a republic, yes, but without rights."
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev stated that he views the republic's presence within the Russian Empire and the USSR as a colonial period, writes Moscow Times.
"We were colonized in the 19th century. Then we were part of the Soviet Union, where we had no independence. We were part of the USSR, a republic, yes, but without rights. In our historical memory, the understanding of what it means to be a colony and then become a free state has been preserved," Aliyev said at the IV Shusha Global Media Forum.
According to him, during the Soviet years, "billions of tons of oil were exported" from Azerbaijan, but after the collapse of the USSR, the country faced an electricity deficit and is still forced to eliminate environmental damage caused by intensive oil extraction.
Aliyev also noted that after 1991, many in Russia predicted the rapid collapse of the former Soviet republics, citing their inability to provide for themselves independently, but these predictions did not come true.
"All of them live normal lives," he said, adding that Azerbaijan itself has transformed into a "middle power" in 30 years of independence.
Answering a question about Ukraine, Aliyev reiterated that it should not agree to occupation, and emphasized that Azerbaijan invariably supports its territorial integrity.
Aliyev has expressed similar assessments of the Soviet period before. Earlier, he called Azerbaijan's entry into the USSR a result of occupation and claimed that it prevented the republic from becoming a fully democratic state.
At the same time, during the Soviet years, the Azerbaijan SSR was for a long time headed by the current president's father, Heydar Aliyev: from 1969 to 1982, he was the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the republic, and then until 1987, he held the position of First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR.
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Цалкам адрозніваецца ад калоніі макуртастана лукі дзе манкурт лука не мае ўласнай гісторыі, а падведзена ўсе пад патрэбы і погляды мацквы.