Battles in July 2020 laid the basis for the victory in 'Iron Fist' operation [implemented by Azerbaijan within the second Karabakh war from late Sept. to early Nov. of last year to liberate its territories from Armenian occupation], editor-in-chief of the National Defense magazine, Russian military expert Igor Korotchenko told Trend.

"A year ago, Armenia launched a large-scale military provocation against Azerbaijan to implement the so-called ‘Tonoyan Doctrine’ named after the former Armenian defense minister,” Korotchenko said. “This doctrine contained fundamentally new guidelines for the conduct of hostilities, in accordance with which Armenia proclaimed the seizure of new territories of Azerbaijan in the event of a new war, announcing its right to inflict preemptive strikes on key Azerbaijani strategic infrastructure facilities, including oil and gas pipelines.”

According to the expert, the military provocation was launched by Armenia in the area where oil and gas pipelines pass in close proximity, through which energy resources are exported from Azerbaijan to Europe.

"The purpose of the provocation [by Armenia] was to exert military-political pressure on Azerbaijan, to demonstrate its power [Armenia’s military power] and readiness for preventive actions. By doing so, Yerevan hoped to restrain Azerbaijan from any actions to liberate the occupied territories,” he noted. “However, the undertaken provocation failed - the Azerbaijani army decently responded to the opponent, didn’t retreat, ensured the security of the border and defeated the aggressor. In this regard, the morale and military-technical superiority of the Azerbaijani army were demonstrated to the whole world.”

The expert stressed that, in fact, the victory of Azerbaijan in the second Karabakh war was largely based on this foundation [response to Armenia’s attack in July 2020].

“Failure to achieve any tactical advantages in the battles in July 2020 was surprising for Armenia. It failed to intimidate Azerbaijan, or make it doubt its Armed Forces. The Azerbaijani army acted excellently and showed readiness to fight back," Korotchenko further said.

Besides, according to him, the progress of military construction in Azerbaijan, correctly chosen guidelines, goals and objectives have demonstrated the success of the political, military and economic reforms undertaken by the leadership of the country’s President Ilham Aliyev.

“Ultimately, the second Karabakh war showed that the Azerbaijani state is developing in the right direction. The success of the economy, the political model of the state, military reforms - all this ultimately gave what led to victory. In the second Karabakh war, we saw outstanding military operations by the standards of modern military art, which are assessed by experts all over the world only with excellent characteristics," concluded the analyst.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.

in July 2020, the Armenian Armed Forces violated the ceasefire in the direction of Azerbaijan's Tovuz district. As a result of Azerbaijan's retaliation, the opposing forces were silenced. The fighting continued the following days. Azerbaijan lost a number of military personnel members, who died fighting off the attacks of the Armenian Armed Forces.

Armenian Armed Forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of the Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery on Sept. 27. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front.

Following over a month of military action to liberate its territories from Armenian occupation from late Sept. to early Nov. 2020, Azerbaijan has pushed Armenia to sign the surrender document. A joint statement on the matter was made by the Azerbaijani president, Armenia's PM, and the president of Russia.

A complete ceasefire and a cessation of all hostilities in the zone of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict were introduced on Nov. 10, 2020.