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Azeri leader wins "duel" with Armenian minister at EU conference - TV
ANS TV, Baku
19 Mar 04
Presenter Qanira Atasova Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has
addressed the international conference "Towards a Wider Europe: The
New Agenda" in Bratislava. The "Xabarci" programme has ANS's special
correspondent Zaur Hasanov on the line. Hello, Zaur.
Hasanov on the phone Hello, Qanira.
Atasova Zaur, what were the key points in the president's speech?
Hasanov President Ilham Aliyev mostly spoke about two issues. He first
touched on Azerbaijan's economic achievements. He said that the
Azerbaijani economy has been successfully developing since 1996. On
average, our GDP grows by 10 per cent every year while inflation
accounts for two per cent. The share of the private sector in GDP has
been constantly growing and has reached 74 per cent now. Our budget is
socially-oriented and 70-80 per cent of budget funds are allocated for
social needs.
In his address, the president attached major importance to the
Nagornyy Karabakh issue. According to him, the unresolved status of
this problem poses a very serious threat to the whole of the Caucasus,
including to oil and gas projects being implemented by Azerbaijan and
Georgia. He said that there are 1m refugees in Azerbaijan, i.e. its
every eighth citizen is a refugee. Their life is full of suffering and
their patience has run out. Saying that their patience has run out,
Ilham Aliyev pointed out that the patience of the entire Azerbaijani
people has run out.
I would like to note that Ilham Aliyev appreciated the activity of the
OSCE and other mediators. But he also said that it was useless. Ilham
Aliyev spoke about the expectations that the EU would support a
settlement to this problem.
I want to say that Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan is
addressing the conference now. Speaking about the Nagornyy Karabakh
problem, he said that there was neither a winner nor a loser in this
conflict. Like Azerbaijan, Armenia regards itself as a defeated
party. According to him, if Azerbaijan says it has 1m refugees, we can
say that 400,000 Armenians lived on Azerbaijani territory before the
start of the war. If they are not refugees, who are they?
This was a very interesting picture. When Ilham Aliyev was speaking,
Oskanyan was shaking his head. When the latter was speaking, the
Azerbaijani president was laughing. Many people, in fact, regarded
Oskanyan's arguments as ridiculous. For example, Oskanyan spoke about
the Nagornyy Karabakh Armenians' right to self-determination because
they want to be near their friends, i.e. the Armenians. But the
Azerbaijani president said that it was impossible for one nation to
have two states. In this case, let the Armenians living in many
countries exercise their right to self-determination. He appealed to
the world community, saying that if the Armenians take this step in
many countries, what kind of trouble and crisis this step will
cause. So, this was a kind of duel, and I can say that we won this
duel.
Atasova Thank you, Zaur.
ANS TV, Baku
19 Mar 04
Presenter Qanira Atasova Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has
addressed the international conference "Towards a Wider Europe: The
New Agenda" in Bratislava. The "Xabarci" programme has ANS's special
correspondent Zaur Hasanov on the line. Hello, Zaur.
Hasanov on the phone Hello, Qanira.
Atasova Zaur, what were the key points in the president's speech?
Hasanov President Ilham Aliyev mostly spoke about two issues. He first
touched on Azerbaijan's economic achievements. He said that the
Azerbaijani economy has been successfully developing since 1996. On
average, our GDP grows by 10 per cent every year while inflation
accounts for two per cent. The share of the private sector in GDP has
been constantly growing and has reached 74 per cent now. Our budget is
socially-oriented and 70-80 per cent of budget funds are allocated for
social needs.
In his address, the president attached major importance to the
Nagornyy Karabakh issue. According to him, the unresolved status of
this problem poses a very serious threat to the whole of the Caucasus,
including to oil and gas projects being implemented by Azerbaijan and
Georgia. He said that there are 1m refugees in Azerbaijan, i.e. its
every eighth citizen is a refugee. Their life is full of suffering and
their patience has run out. Saying that their patience has run out,
Ilham Aliyev pointed out that the patience of the entire Azerbaijani
people has run out.
I would like to note that Ilham Aliyev appreciated the activity of the
OSCE and other mediators. But he also said that it was useless. Ilham
Aliyev spoke about the expectations that the EU would support a
settlement to this problem.
I want to say that Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan is
addressing the conference now. Speaking about the Nagornyy Karabakh
problem, he said that there was neither a winner nor a loser in this
conflict. Like Azerbaijan, Armenia regards itself as a defeated
party. According to him, if Azerbaijan says it has 1m refugees, we can
say that 400,000 Armenians lived on Azerbaijani territory before the
start of the war. If they are not refugees, who are they?
This was a very interesting picture. When Ilham Aliyev was speaking,
Oskanyan was shaking his head. When the latter was speaking, the
Azerbaijani president was laughing. Many people, in fact, regarded
Oskanyan's arguments as ridiculous. For example, Oskanyan spoke about
the Nagornyy Karabakh Armenians' right to self-determination because
they want to be near their friends, i.e. the Armenians. But the
Azerbaijani president said that it was impossible for one nation to
have two states. In this case, let the Armenians living in many
countries exercise their right to self-determination. He appealed to
the world community, saying that if the Armenians take this step in
many countries, what kind of trouble and crisis this step will
cause. So, this was a kind of duel, and I can say that we won this
duel.
Atasova Thank you, Zaur.