Former President of Azerbaijan Ayaz Mutalibov has stated, after a long silence, that he is closely following incumbent President Ilham Aliyev’s visits to Karabakh and listens to the statements. He said this during the interview, Haqqin.az reports.

At the same time, the former Azerbaijani president stressed that he is cautious on some issues.

"You know, Armenians are very insidious. But we [i.e., Azerbaijanis] are following the events, we will see what will happen. In any case, we must look to the future with confidence. Personally, I am confident that we will continue to win; I have no doubt about that. We will return to Khankendi [i.e., Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) capital Stepanakert] and Khojalu, and let the Armenians remain unconvinced," he said.

Mutalibov believes that if one of the Armenians of Karabakh adopts Azerbaijani citizenship, he will get the right to live there; otherwise, this cannot happen.

According to the same source, former Azerbaijani President Ayaz Mutalibov, 83, has had health problems. The last head of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan and the first president of independent Azerbaijan lives in the capital Baku since 2011. Mutalibov was ousted from power in the 1992 coup, and he lived in Moscow until 2011.