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Lisa’s on-screen drinking gets Thais talking about booze law

Images of Buri Ram-born pop star Lisa drinking Thai beer on a US talk show have sparked discussion among Thais, going beyond her impressive promotion of Thai ‘soft power’ to raise questions about the country’s alcohol advertising law.

The fact that 29-year-old Lalisa ‘Lisa’ Manobal drank the beer in the United States means she would not be subject to punishment under Thai law, which bans most forms of alcohol advertising and marketing under the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act.

However, Thais impressed by Lisa’s ‘soft power’ gesture have found themselves in a dilemma over sharing pictures or video, as they would be subject to restrictions under Thai law.

During The Tonight Show on Wednesday, Lisa brought out beer from Thailand and invited host Jimmy Fallon to say ‘mot kaew’, a phrase commonly used by Thais when drinking together. They then clinked glasses and drank beer to ease the spiciness after tasting chillies and som tam.

Lisa appeared on the show to promote her forthcoming album Press Play, which will feature ‘many Thai elements’ and is due out on Oct 23. She also served som tam and a favourite cocktail recipe, made with Korean soju, Thai beer and Sprite.

The segment was widely covered by Thai media, with many praising Lisa for drawing international attention to Thai food and culture.

But under Thai law, media outlets in Thailand are required to blur images of alcohol products and related material in such content.

While some people questioned the appropriateness of the artist’s actions, others called for the government to consider reforming the law to keep pace with the digital age, while balancing social protection with opportunities for economic growth.

In the past, Thai media were allowed to advertise alcoholic beverages relatively freely. That changed with the passage of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act in 2008 by the government of Gen Surayud Chulanont, appointed by the coup leaders who toppled Thaksin Shinawatra exactly 20 years ago this weekend.

Section 32 of the Act bans the advertising or display of the names and logos of alcoholic beverages, as well as claims about their benefits intended to induce people to consume them.

The law allows exceptions for the provision of information, knowledge or public relations concerning alcoholic beverages, subject to the relevant rules.

‘Thai creators should exercise caution’

Public Health Minister Phatthana Promphat, who was asked for comment on Friday, said he did not think the Lisa incident should be turned into a controversy.

Regarding proposed amendments to the law, Mr Phatthana said there had been no changes so far and officials continued to enforce the existing regulations.

Any future changes would have to be carefully considered in terms of their advantages and disadvantages, he said.

As for Thai creators who post content featuring alcoholic beverage recipes without displaying a brand, the minister said each case must be considered based on its content and intent.

However, clearly displaying a brand or linking to a sales channel, such as an online shopping basket, could indicate commercial intent, he said, adding that manufacturers and content creators should therefore exercise caution. (Story continues below)

‘No more guessing over how officials interpret law’

‘For me, we should go beyond asking whether Lisa is guilty or not and ask why people do not know what they can and cannot do,’ said People’s Party MP Taopiphop Limjittakorn, a longtime proponent of liquor market liberalisation.

In a Facebook post on Friday, he said the incident reflected a problem for businesses, content creators, influencers, retailers and ordinary people who have to comply with the law.

‘If the rules remain unclear, people should not be left to guess how officials will interpret them,’ he said.

He called on the Alcoholic Beverage Control Committee to take two steps: expedite the issuance of secondary regulations and produce a handbook that ordinary people can easily understand.

He said the Act set a broad framework, including terms such as ‘using one’s reputation to induce’ people to consume alcohol, leaving people to ask what constitutes inducement and what the exact do’s and don’ts are.

‘Communication has changed, with platforms such as TikTok and YouTube and the growing role of influencers and creators,’ he said. ‘The law therefore needs to keep pace with people’s actual behaviour.’

The handbook, he said, should provide clear examples of what can and cannot be done, such as reporting news or discussing alcoholic beverages in artistic and cultural contexts without an intention to advertise, as opposed to accepting payment to promote sales or posting content encouraging people to buy alcoholic beverages.

Tropical storm forms outside PAR

The tropical cyclone outside the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR), with the international name Dujuan, has developed into a severe tropical storm, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said yesterday.

Dujuan was located 2,190 kilometers east-northeast of extreme Northern Luzon, packing maximum sustained winds of 110 kilometers per hour near the center and gusts of up to 135 kph.

The storm is not expected to enter PAR within the next 24 hours as it moves west-northwestward at 30 kph.

Despite Dujuan remaining outside PAR, the southwest monsoon will continue to bring rains to southern parts of the country.

Cloudy skies with scattered rains and thunderstorms due to the monsoon will prevail over Western Visayas, Occidental Mindoro and Palawan.

The Negros Island Region and Zamboanga Peninsula will have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms.

Metro Manila and the rest of the country will also experience partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms due to localized thunderstorms.

A low-pressure area was also monitored outside PAR, located 140 kilometers south of Pag-asa Island in Kalayaan, Palawan.

PAGASA said the LPA has an unlikely chance of developing into a tropical cyclone.

Nyashinski loses bid to keep multi-million Tecno deal secret

Rapper and songwriter Nyamari Ongegu (Nyashinski) has suffered another setback in a copyright infringement case filed against him by a Nigerian music producer.

The celebrated rapper will now be compelled to produce contract documents on a multi-million-shilling brand ambassador deal he signed with Tecno Kenya in May 2023, potentially revealing how much he was paid under the agreement.

This follows the High Court’s dismissal of an appeal in which Nyashinski had sought to prevent disclosure of the contract and its financial details.

Sources familiar with the deal told Business Daily that the deal that made Nyashinski the face of Tecno’s Camon 20 smartphone was worth about Sh12million.

Nyashinski’s legal troubles in the matter date back to 2023, when Nigerian music producer Sam Are Eliapenda filed a case at a Magistrate’s Court accusing the rapper of infringing his copyright when he entered into the endorsement deal with the Chinese smartphone manufacturer without his consent.

Eliapenda produced the beats for Nyashinski’s hit song Wach Wach, which was prominently featured in Tecno’s Camon 20 marketing campaigns following the endorsement deal.

The producer argued that, as the creator of the music used by Tecno in commercials featuring Nyashinski, he was entitled to a share of the earnings from the contract. Eliapenda told the court that he had unsuccessfully tried to reach an agreement with Nyashinski before turning to the courts.

In his plea, the producer asked the Magistrate’s Court to compel Nyashinski to produce the endorsement contract and related financial records so that the amount he received from the deal could be established.

On August 9, 2024, the court ordered Nyashinski to produce details of the contract, including bank transaction records and royalty reports on the disputed song, to help settle the matter.

The Magistrate’s Court said that the sought contract documents were necessary and relevant for a fair determination of the suit.

Nyashinski, however, moved swiftly to the High Court, filing an appeal on August 21, 2024 against the magistrate’s decision.

He faulted the magistrate’s ruling, arguing that it failed to provide directions, safeguards and/or mechanisms to ensure that his personal data, financials, legal obligations and personal brand are protected from blackmail, extortion, exploitation, fraud and abuse.

The rapper insisted that releasing the documents would expose his trade secrets, putting him at a commercial disadvantage and exposing him to potential losses.

He also faulted the magistrate for incorrectly extending the scope of privity of contract by allowing the music producer to seek the documents he has no contractual rights to access, insisting that the contract document does not bear a material connection to the core issue of the case.

Further, the rapper argued that disclosing the contract and the amount he was paid would breach a non-disclosure clause between him and Tecno. He further insisted that the producer had not given the court a meaningful reason for demanding the contract because he was not a party to the agreement between Nyashinski and Tecno.

But the producer argued back, stating that availing the contract is crucial in determining the losses he has suffered as far as his 50 percent publishing rights of the song Wach Wach, which was heavily used in the promotion of the Tecno Camon 20, is concerned. Eliapenda also accused Nyashinski of contradiction, having initially told the Magistrate Court that there existed no such contract as he was paid in cash.

The High Court initially gave Nyashinski reprieve on the appeal, suspending the execution of the magistrate’s ruling pending the hearing and determination of the appeal.

‘On careful consideration of the application, there is no doubt that the applicant (Nyashinski) stands to suffer loss if no orders are granted in the event the appeal succeeds. That is so because the fear the applicant has will be long realised with no possibility of reversal. Once the documents are released on discovery, then the process intimated to by the applicant will automatically set in motion. The application therefore is merited. There be a stay of execution of the ruling delivered by Hon Selina Muchungi pending determination of the appeal,’ the High Court ruled in 2025.

That reprieve has now been lifted.

Last Friday, the High Court dismissed Nyashinski’s appeal, effectively clearing the way for the disclosure of the documents and ending the temporary stay that had shielded the contract from disclosure.

‘The magistrate exercised proper discretion in finding that the 1st applicant (Nyashinski) and Tecno Mobile should produce the documents requested by the 1st respondent (Sam Are Eliapenda Jedidiah). The Magistrate’s finding was sound in law. Appeal dismissed with costs to the 1st respondent,’ the court ordered.

With the appeal dismissed, the matter now returns to the Magistrate’s Court, where Nyashinski will be required to produce the contract and related financial records.

The documents could reveal the finer details of the Tecno deal, including the financial value attached to the endorsement, before the copyright case proceeds to its substantive hearing and trial.

The bone of contention on the matter is largely pegged on the ownership rights of the song Wach Wach, which was used in a commercial advertisement.

According to the split sheet contract terms – which is a written agreement outlining how ownership and royalties are divided among collaborators on a song – Nyashinski owns 100 percent of the master rights to the song. However, the rapper and the producer split the publishing rights to the song, with each owning 50 percent.

Eliapenda argues that he is entitled to a percentage of the millions Nyashinski made from the endorsement deal, based on his publishing rights ownership of the song.

The producer maintains that Nyashinski cannot claim his rights are superior to his.

‘The rights of the appellant are not superior to the rights of any other persons; thus, the appellant cannot claim privacy after publicly disenfranchising me of millions of shillings through the copyright-infringing advertisement made together with him and the 2nd respondent and now claim privacy,’ he states in his court pleadings.

However, in his defence, Nyashinski maintains his deal with Tecno wasn’t a publishing deal as Eliapenda claims but rather one which included image rights, appearance, video/photo shoots, and social media association.

Nyashinski further argues that, through his company, GETA International, he signed a fair use agreement with Tecno for the use of the song Wach Wach, which he had every right to, as he owns 100 percent Master Rights and didn’t need any consent from the producer.

When are policy decisions actually made?

Maybe the best way to understand Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul’s confounding decision to reinforce the Thai government stance on foreigners as hostile – ordering ‘errant’ visitors be summarily deported – is by understanding how some conclusions in this country are so foregone they appear unshakeable, while others are treated as inconceivable regardless of their grounding.

A case in point: Seeing the headline ‘Bangkok governor defends switch to electric rubbish trucks’ was a little surprising at first glance.

Considering Thailand’s fervently proclaimed green-mindedness and its enthusiastic appetite for electric vehicles, it seems obvious that if any aspect of the capital could benefit from the introduction of a modern, low-carbon innovation, it would be waste collection.

Yet it turned out that Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt’s proposal to replace the current diesel-fuelled fleet of the city with close to 1,400 electric trucks was not so straightforward.

The argument he made was that the switch would cut energy costs by about 4.75 billion baht, or 54%, over five years while also significantly cutting greenhouse gas emissions, noise pollution and the PM2.5 fine-dust pollution that is an annual plague on the entire country.

By his office’s calculations, 1,347 EV garbage trucks would consume 4.01 billion baht worth of electricity over five years, compared with the 8.76 billion baht that would be needed to fuel diesel engines. Leasing these new trucks was also said to reduce the financial burden on the city by 7-10%.

Mr Chadchart appeared just as perplexed as this writer over the resistance the idea was facing, noting that the solution has already been adopted in Pattaya, Phuket and Nonthaburi.

Council not convinced

Ultimately, the Bangkok Metropolitan Council rejected the electrification plan, citing questions over procurement and staffing for the replacement fleet.

Councillors were unconvinced that the terms for the switchover plan were sound, and that Bangkok has the infrastructure to support the change. They also expressed fears of corruption and that the designs could too easily be compromised by ill-intended forces.

These reservations echoed many points brought up by the People’s Party, which is known for its rigorous vetting of projects of public interest while serving as the opposition in parliament.

Suphanat Minchaiynunt, a People’s Party MP for Bangkok, rightfully pointed out that the capital’s administration had actually budgeted over 10 billion baht across the past three years for EV rubbish truck projects, but they repeatedly became stalled or cancelled, leaving the earmarked cash in limbo.

He said the latest proposal, requesting some 6 billion baht, did not even include terms of reference, which could mean the council was approving spending on contractors it may not want in the end.

Pilot projects were planned to prove the concept, Mr Suphanat said, but only a limited selection of companies were invited to take part and in the end no specific pilot project was ever run.

Pre-empting the governor’s point, the MP said the model of EV and the leasing format for the trucks being used in other cities differed from what was being put to the council, voiding the argument that the Bangkok plan was already in effect elsewhere.

This is all well and good. The council found reasonable doubts about a project with a hefty bill and erred on the side of caution, throwing it back to the drawing board.

So what if the city has been reviewing this worthwhile idea since 2023? It will be ready when it is ready.

Contrast all this, though, with the recently implemented TH-AI Passport project.

Though a national initiative rather than a Bangkok-only project, the programme to provide artificial intelligence access to millions of Thais could be likened to the EV garbage truck proposal, in that both are about introducing modern, paradigm-shifting innovations for the greater good of the public.

Just like the waste trucks, the TH-AI Passport plan encountered suspicions of malfeasance from the People’s Party.

Specifications locked

Documents presented by the opposition appeared to indicate that companies were prepped to take on relevant contracts almost a year prior to the project being introduced, that specifications were designed to favour certain suppliers and that the actual technical plan for the 1.6-billion-baht undertaking wouldn’t support its stated purposes.

The party’s fears were strong enough that it submitted its evidence to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), calling for a serious probe.

The government’s defence against these accusations? Simply that due process was undertaken to the satisfaction of involved officials, that Thailand risks being left in the past if it does not quickly adopt AI into daily life and, as of this week, that more than 1 million people registered to take part in the project. Surely, a free handout that many people want should be above reproach?

Similar rationales, similar contentions. One project deemed not worth the risk, the other fast-tracked to deployment.

The selective rigour is exactly how these issues, distant from one another as they are to the government’s recent fervour for deportation, relate.

Certain outcomes, as decided by those currently in office, are fixed points. Thailand needs the AI passport just like it needs to take a hard line against foreigners who ‘disrespect public sensibilities’.

The issue is not that these decisions are inherently flawed, it is that they seem to be pre-determined and based on an opaque consideration process that is becoming increasingly insular.

How much faster can a conclusion aligned with the initial wishes of top officials be reached, before the process of consideration is removed entirely?

Lukashenko says Belarus could have faced Ukraine’s fate after 2020 vote

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has said that his country could have experienced a situation similar to Ukraine’s if attempts to distance Belarus from Russia had succeeded during the political crisis that followed the 2020 presidential election.

Speaking at the ‘Youth. Belarus. Future’ forum in Minsk, Lukashenko said Western countries had sought to separate Belarus from Russia during the unrest that followed the August 2020 presidential election.

‘They tried to do this in 2020,’ Lukashenko said, according to Russian media reports. ‘If it had succeeded, we would have had what is happening in Ukraine now.’

Lukashenko has long portrayed Belarus’s close relationship with Russia as a central element of the country’s security. His latest remarks again linked the survival of Belarus’s political system to maintaining its alliance with Moscow.

The 2020 election triggered mass protests after Belarusian authorities declared Lukashenko the winner. Western governments rejected the official result, while Russia backed Lukashenko as the political crisis intensified. In August 2020, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow had prepared a reserve of law-enforcement personnel that could be deployed to Belarus if the situation deteriorated, although he said there was no immediate need to use the force.

We need more optometrists to save young Filipinos

As over 26 million students returned to school for the 2026-2027 year, attention has again been drawn to the persistent ‘learning crisis’ affecting education. Experts argue that this crisis will persist unless the classroom shortage is addressed, teachers are properly supported and the lack of textbooks and learning materials is resolved.

Why do our students perform poorly in international assessments? One possible cause is a basic issue – they struggle with accurate reading, which may be due to vision problems that hinder clear sight.

It is estimated that over 28 million Filipinos struggle with near vision, mostly due to poverty that prevents them from affording eye exams or glasses.

In my discussion with Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s leading optometrist Dr. Rokiah Omar, I learned that children are the most vulnerable because they seldom complain about poor vision. They don’t know what ‘normal’ vision should be, so a blurry world feels natural to them.

The brain and eyes actively learn to work together, a process that continues until a child is about seven or eight years old. If a child has a vision problem during these formative years, the brain may permanently ignore blurry signals from the affected eye.

International medical guidelines recommend starting formal vision screenings around age three, with yearly tests until age six. Delaying early detection of vision problems raises the risk of amblyopia, or ‘lazy eye,’ when one or both eyes don’t develop normal vision during childhood. The brain often favors the stronger eye, gradually ignoring signals from the weaker eye.

If a corrective lens or eye patch isn’t used before age seven, the brain’s neural pathways solidify, leading to permanent visual impairment in that eye – something that glasses or surgery can’t correct later.

Early childhood is therefore a critical window for visual development, and providing a child with eyeglasses is one of the most powerful educational and economic interventions. Experts say that a child with uncorrected vision learns about half as much in a year as a classmate with good vision.

A child’s ability to see the blackboard clearly directly affects their learning, graduation and ability to find skilled jobs. When a child can’t see the board or focus on a book, going to school becomes a frustrating experience. Because young children often don’t recognize their vision issues, teachers and parents may mistakenly think they are slow learners, have ADHD or lack intelligence.

But we cannot help these students because of the ongoing crisis in the country’s optometry profession. While there are more than 12,000 registered optometrists, only about half are actively practicing. This leaves us well below the WHO-recommended 1:10,000 optometrist-to-population ratio.

This small number is compounded by our archipelagic character and in many places, Filipinos never have their vision checked.

All higher education institutions that offer a Doctor of Optometry are private, lengthy and costly programs. They typically require five-six years and cost between P600,000 to P750,000 for the entire duration. These expenses do not include the cost of ophthalmic instruments such as retinoscopes and ophthalmoscopes, clinical fees, internships or board review classes.

This means there are fewer graduates, and many of those who graduate practice their profession abroad, open clinics or remain in urban areas.

The government has been fond of enacting policies that appear to address the problem. The National Vision Screening Act (RA 11358), enacted in 2019, mandates a National Vision Screening Program (NVSP) under DepEd to screen kindergarten pupils’ vision.

The NVSP requires teachers and health personnel to conduct basic vision screenings for kindergarten students. This helps identify potential visual issues early, provide immediate support to visually impaired children, establish a referral system for specialist examinations and treatments and compile a database of vision screening outcomes for all kindergarteners.

While these goals are admirable, how can they be realized amid the country’s optometry crisis? Who will train the thousands of teachers in vision screening? Who will offer immediate assistance to visually impaired kindergarten students? Who will perform follow-up diagnoses at regional or local levels? How can you persuade or mandate that optometry students complete their internships by screening children, or that graduates join this effort?

This is most likely a dead law.

Dr. Charlie Ho, a four-term national president of the Integrated Philippine Association of Optometrists (IPAO) and the founding president of the Vision Science Institute, provides a practical solution.

We need to open optometry programs at state universities and colleges (SUCs) to expand access by lowering costs (through ongoing free tuition and waived miscellaneous fees) and to require a return-service agreement so that students can serve in far-flung areas. These students (or graduates) can be the backbone of DepEd’s implementation of RA 11358. Similar to the successful Doktor Para sa Bayan law, CHED can provide grants to participating SUCs for equipment purchases and additional stipends to cover students’ other educational costs.

So far, only UP Manila Chancellor Mike Tee has risen to the challenge of developing a Doctor of Optometry program in response to the optometry crisis to help young Filipinos.

When will other SUCs follow suit, and when will CHED step in to address the issue?

Azerbaijan, Germany explore new opportunities for climate cooperation

Azerbaijan and Germany have discussed opportunities to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the areas of climate change and environmental protection.

Azerbaijan’s Presidential Representative on Climate Issues Mukhtar Babayev said on X that he discussed the issue during a meeting with Dirk Lölke, Germany’s newly appointed ambassador to Azerbaijan.

The two sides also discussed continuing cooperation within the framework of the global climate agenda.

‘We emphasized the importance of strengthening international cooperation to accelerate the implementation of climate commitments and achieve tangible progress,’ Babayev said.

South Cotabato school shooter used DepEd employee father’s gun

A Grade 9 student who opened fire at Banga National High School in South Cotabato used his father’s firearm, Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said.

In a press briefing on Saturday, September 19, Remulla said the student’s father is a disaster risk mitigation officer of the Department of Education (DepEd).

The student accessed the firearm after opening a vault where his father kept three licensed guns.

‘Mayroon siyang tatlong licensed firearms na hindi secured enough na nabuksan ng bata at kinuha ‘yung baril,’ Remulla said.

The DILG chief said the shooting happened at around 1 p.m. Friday, September 18.

Three people were killed in the incident, including the shooter, while eight others were injured. Two of those killed were students, according to Remulla.

One of the injured students remained in critical condition in an intensive care unit as of Saturday morning, according to a municipal disaster risk reduction official.

Authorities have previously said the student allegedly warned his classmates before the attack. He reportedly told them to go home after lunch because he would do something that could put them in danger, but his classmates thought he was joking.

The student later left his classroom and opened fire in an adjacent classroom before turning the gun on himself.

Remulla said the incident was the third case in which an improperly secured firearm was used.

Marcos orders probe, tighter school security

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Friday, September 18, expressed condolences to the families of those killed in the shooting.

‘Muli tayong nahaharap sa isang trahedyang hindi dapat danasin ng sinumang magulang, paaralan, o komunidad,’ Marcos said in a Facebook post.

(We are once again faced with a tragedy that no parent, school, or community should ever have to experience.)

He said the government would ensure that those injured receive the necessary treatment and assistance.

Marcos also said he had ordered government agencies to strengthen security in schools following previous shooting incidents in Tacloban and Zamboanga.

‘Ito na ang ikatlong nakamamatay na pamamaril sa paaralan sa loob lamang ng tatlong buwan,’ he said.

(This is now the third deadly school shooting in just three months.)

The president said he had ordered the Department of Education, DILG and Philippine National Police to report on the measures they had implemented following the previous incidents.

He also ordered an investigation into the shooting, including how the minor was able to obtain a firearm and bring it inside the school.

‘Hindi natin maaaring tanggapin na maging bahagi na lamang ng buhay ng ating mga anak ang mga pamamaril sa paaralan,’ the president said.

(We cannot accept school shootings becoming just another part of our children’s lives.)

The Department of Education condemned the shooting and said its officials were on site to assist the victims and coordinate with local authorities and law enforcement in the investigation.

DFA: No asylum info on Zaldy Co, Harry Roque

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) cannot verify the asylum status of former congressman Zaldy Co and former presidential spokesman Harry Roque in Europe due to the region’s strict privacy regulations.

During the DFA’s budget hearing yesterday, Senate foreign affairs committee chairman Sen. Erwin Tulfo pressed Foreign Affairs Secretary Tess Lazaro on whether countries like France notify the Philippine government when a citizen applies for asylum.

‘Mr. Chair, the European Union, France included, has very strict privacy issues. So if he has filed for asylum, we will not be given information because this is their law,’ Lazaro explained.

She noted that the Philippine embassies are denied this information upon inquiry, adding that the same restrictions apply to Austria regarding Roque’s status.

The DFA only learned of Co’s whereabouts through a tip from another European official.

‘I think in the past, we only learned that Mr. Co is in France because it was mentioned to me by the minister of… Czech Republic,’ Lazaro told the panel.

‘The foreign minister told me, he was taken and was already in France. That was the only information,’ she added.

When Tulfo asked if the DFA could confirm reports that Roque’s asylum bid in Austria was denied, Lazaro reiterated that the Philippine embassy in Vienna has ‘no information at all’ due to the host country’s basic tenets of strict privacy.

To address these legal barriers, Lazaro stated that the DFA consistently requests three key agreements during bilateral political consultations: extradition, transfer of sentenced persons and mutual legal assistance.

However, she admitted that the Philippines currently lacks these specific treaties with the European countries involved.

Azerbaijan’s 2023 anti-terror operation: final chapter of Karabakh conflict

September 19-20, 2023, is one of the most important turning points written in golden letters in the modern statehood chronicle of Azerbaijan. The local anti-terror measures, which lasted only 23 hours and 43 minutes, dealt the final and decisive blow to nearly three decades of illegal occupation, separatism, and the geopolitical uncertainty that existed in the South Caucasus. The operation resulted in the 100 percent restoration of Azerbaijan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, while also laying the foundation for new realities in the region.

But where had the path leading to this historic outcome begun? As is known, following the collapse of the USSR, as a result of Armenia’s irredentist and aggressive policy, 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s lands were occupied, and nearly one million of our compatriots lost their homes and became refugees and internally displaced persons. Despite all of Azerbaijan’s goodwill and peaceful initiatives, the Armenian side was unwilling to resolve the issue at the negotiating table and ignored the well-known resolutions of the UN Security Council. It even further escalated the situation with provocative slogans such as ‘new wars, new territories.’ Armenia’s adventurist policy resulted in the 44-day Patriotic War in 2020, and Azerbaijan liberated a large part of its territories through military and political means.

However, Armenia’s leadership, living in illusions, and the illegal junta regime in Karabakh once again remained true to their tradition. Following the trilateral statement of November 10, 2023, Yerevan refused to fulfill the obligations it had undertaken and did not withdraw the remnants of its illegal armed formations from the territories of Azerbaijan. Not content with this, it continued acts of sabotage and subversion in the liberated territories, particularly mine terrorism. Finally, on the morning of September 19, when Azerbaijani civilians and police officers were martyred as a result of a mine provocation in Khojavand, the terrorist acts of the separatists reached their peak, making anti-terror measures inevitable.

The operation that began on September 19 once again demonstrated to the whole world the strength, high professionalism, and modern technical equipment of the Azerbaijani Army. This operation, which entered world military history as an example of ‘precision strikes’ carried out with surgical accuracy, involved the use of digital technologies, unmanned aerial vehicles, and high-precision artillery systems. The enemy’s deep defensive lines built over years, long-term firing positions, command posts, and air defense systems were destroyed within a few hours. All of this was carried out with such professionalism that the enemy, realizing that further resistance was completely meaningless, was forced to raise the white flag and surrender.

One of the most unique and remarkable aspects of this operation was that it was based on the highest principles of humanitarianism. No harm was caused to the civilian population or civilian infrastructure. The Azerbaijani Armed Forces neutralized only legitimate military targets. During the operation, humanitarian corridors were opened for civilians, and medical and food assistance was provided to those in need. Despite the disinformation campaigns of some biased circles in the West, the UN mission that visited the area also officially confirmed that civilian infrastructure had not been damaged and that there had been no cases of violence against the civilian population. This proved that the Azerbaijani soldier possesses a high level of culture not only on the battlefield, but also on the moral and humanitarian plane.

Following the operation, the territory was fully cleared with the disarmament of the remnants of the Armenian army, the confiscation of thousands of pieces of heavy military equipment and ammunition, and the dissolution of the separatist regime, which announced the termination of its existence. This was not merely a military success, but also the establishment of Law and Justice.

Ultimately, the anti-terror operation of September 19-20, 2023, became a brilliant triumph of the far-sighted diplomatic, military, and political strategy that Azerbaijani President and Supreme Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev had implemented step by step over the years. ‘Iron Fist’ diplomacy perfectly combined military power with strategic intelligence, bringing a complete and decisive end to the 30-year conflict. With the raising of our tricolor flag in Khankendi, Khojaly, Khojavand, and Aghdara, Azerbaijan fully restored its sovereignty. Today, the new opportunities for peace and cooperation that have emerged in the South Caucasus are rising precisely on the foundation of this magnificent Victory.