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NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT MAY BE RESOLVED ONLY THROUGH RESTORING TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY OF AZERBAIJAN AND THE RETURN OF REFUGEES TO THEIR NATIVE LAND: PRESIDENT OF AZERBAIJAN
TREND News Agency, Azerbaijan
Aug 7 2007
Kazakhstan, Astana /corr. Trend E.Huseynov / The President of
Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, is sure that the only way to peacefully
settle the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is the
restoration of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and the return
of refugees to their native land.
"The only way out of the situation is the restoration of the
territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and the refugees' returning to
their native land. There cannot be any other alternatives," said
Ilham Aliyev, in his interview with Kazakhstan's Express K newspaper.
The conflict between the two countries of South Caucasus began in 1988
due to territorial claims by Armenia against Azerbaijan. Armenia has
occupied 20% of the Azerbaijani land including the Nagorno-Karabakh
region and its seven surrounding Districts. Since 1992, these
territories have been under the occupation of the Armenian Forces. In
1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement at which time
the active hostilities ended. The Co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group
( Russia, France and USA) are currently holding peaceful negotiations.
"Currently from the point of view of the conflict settlement,
we proceed from four UN Resolutions which require immediate and
unconditional withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from the
occupied territories of Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh. Similar
resolutions have also been passed by the Council of Europe. The
only way out is the withdrawal of the Armenia's occupant forces from
seven districts around Nagorno-Karabakh and returning the refugees
(more than 700,000), including refugees from Armenia (250,000),
to their native land. In future, we are prepared to provide high
autonomy status to Nagorno-Karabakh," the President said.
According to the President, the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh demand
independence, but it will never take place. "The Azeri people and
the State will never agree to this. The international community
will never recognize it. Recently they held 'presidential elections'
in the so-called Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and it was condemned by
everyone. The USA, France, Russia, European Union, Turkey and many
countries will never recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent
state, we have tried to explain this to the Armenian side, which has
unfortunately only taken an unconstructive position," Aliyev said.
According to the State Head, Azerbaijan is still adhering to the
peaceful process and considers that the negotiations process is
not completed. "Insincerity by the opposition and its efforts to
tell untruths to the mediators and prolong time will not yield
any results. As time passes, their position is weakening, but our
position is becoming stronger. Perhaps individual politicians are
not interested in the return of the Azerbaijani land. Maybe they are
taking an unconstructive position for the sake of their political
ambitions. But this is not of interest to the Armenian people. If
the Armenian people understand this and put an end to Armenia's
occupation policy, relations between Baku and Yerevan may normalize
and the Armenian people may achieve more from co-operating with us
than overseas," Aliyev concluded.
TREND News Agency, Azerbaijan
Aug 7 2007
Kazakhstan, Astana /corr. Trend E.Huseynov / The President of
Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, is sure that the only way to peacefully
settle the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is the
restoration of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and the return
of refugees to their native land.
"The only way out of the situation is the restoration of the
territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and the refugees' returning to
their native land. There cannot be any other alternatives," said
Ilham Aliyev, in his interview with Kazakhstan's Express K newspaper.
The conflict between the two countries of South Caucasus began in 1988
due to territorial claims by Armenia against Azerbaijan. Armenia has
occupied 20% of the Azerbaijani land including the Nagorno-Karabakh
region and its seven surrounding Districts. Since 1992, these
territories have been under the occupation of the Armenian Forces. In
1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement at which time
the active hostilities ended. The Co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group
( Russia, France and USA) are currently holding peaceful negotiations.
"Currently from the point of view of the conflict settlement,
we proceed from four UN Resolutions which require immediate and
unconditional withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from the
occupied territories of Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh. Similar
resolutions have also been passed by the Council of Europe. The
only way out is the withdrawal of the Armenia's occupant forces from
seven districts around Nagorno-Karabakh and returning the refugees
(more than 700,000), including refugees from Armenia (250,000),
to their native land. In future, we are prepared to provide high
autonomy status to Nagorno-Karabakh," the President said.
According to the President, the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh demand
independence, but it will never take place. "The Azeri people and
the State will never agree to this. The international community
will never recognize it. Recently they held 'presidential elections'
in the so-called Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and it was condemned by
everyone. The USA, France, Russia, European Union, Turkey and many
countries will never recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent
state, we have tried to explain this to the Armenian side, which has
unfortunately only taken an unconstructive position," Aliyev said.
According to the State Head, Azerbaijan is still adhering to the
peaceful process and considers that the negotiations process is
not completed. "Insincerity by the opposition and its efforts to
tell untruths to the mediators and prolong time will not yield
any results. As time passes, their position is weakening, but our
position is becoming stronger. Perhaps individual politicians are
not interested in the return of the Azerbaijani land. Maybe they are
taking an unconstructive position for the sake of their political
ambitions. But this is not of interest to the Armenian people. If
the Armenian people understand this and put an end to Armenia's
occupation policy, relations between Baku and Yerevan may normalize
and the Armenian people may achieve more from co-operating with us
than overseas," Aliyev concluded.