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BAKU: Ilham Aliyev: Azerbaijani Land Will Be Liberated

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  • BAKU: Ilham Aliyev: Azerbaijani Land Will Be Liberated

    ILHAM ALIYEV: AZERBAIJANI LAND WILL BE LIBERATED

    news.az
    Nov 18 2009
    Azerbaijan

    Ilham Aliyev Azerbaijan is hopeful of success in talks to resolve
    the Karabakh conflict, although Armenia is using delaying tactics,
    President Ilham Aliyev has said.

    He was speaking at the official opening on Tuesday of a nine-storey
    residential building in Baku's Binaqadi District. The building
    will house 369 families displaced from their homes by the Armenian
    occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh and its surrounding districts.

    "I am sure that we will attain our desired goal but I want it to
    happen as soon as possible," the president said. "I have worked and
    will continue working in this regard."

    He said Azerbaijan adheres to the policy of settling the conflict
    through negotiations.

    "We will continue our pressure on Armenia in political, economic and
    all other forms and we should do our utmost to attain our desired
    goal. We want to restore justice," Aliyev said.

    The president said that Azerbaijan has no territorial claims on
    other countries though present-day Armenia was established on ancient
    Azerbaijani land, in particular the Irevan khanate and Zangezur.

    Addressing the internally displaced people, Aliyev said that they
    would live temporarily in the new houses and once the conflict in
    Nagorno-Karabakh is settled they will be able to return to their
    native homes which will be rebuilt.

    "Once the Azerbaijani lands are liberated, we will build new houses,
    new cities and create new infrastructure on these lands," the president
    said. He also said that the authorities pay considerable attention to
    the problems of refugees and IDPs and have assigned $2bn to improve
    their living conditions.

    The president said that Armenia is fully dependent on foreign
    financial assistance, as its economy continues to weaken, while the
    economic situation in Azerbaijan is improving and "this gap will grow
    further" with the passage of time. At the same time, Aliyev said, the
    Azerbaijani authorities pay considerable attention to strengthening
    military potential.

    "We are in a negotiating process, but we should be ready to liberate
    our lands by force at any time," the head of state said. He described
    Armenia's continuing aggression against Azerbaijan as "an unbearable
    situation" and "the greatest injustice and crude violation of human
    rights".

    "Yet the world community is indifferent to this. Though international
    organizations have adopted the relevant resolutions, they are not
    executed. In such conditions, these resolutions are senseless.

    Unfortunately, the norms of international law are crudely violated
    in the world and, as a result, Azerbaijani lands remain occupied for
    many years," the president said.

    "We try to settle the issue peacefully, as we do not want war. But
    negotiations are ineffective," he said. Seven to eight rounds of
    negotiations on resolution of the conflict are held every year but
    with no special result.

    "There is progress but we are not able to attain the final solution
    to the issue. Today Armenia takes positions that contradict all
    international norms, while the world community does not put pressure
    on them," Aliyev said. In similar cases elsewhere, when one country
    occupies another, political and military intervention is observed,
    he said.

    "Yet our case is different for some well-known reasons. As a result of
    the activity of the Armenian lobby, the world community does not treat
    the Armenian occupation very seriously. Therefore, we should hold a
    thorough analysis of the current situation and make some changes to
    our plan of action for the coming years. We see that we can rely only
    on ourselves," the head of state said. He said that for this purpose
    Azerbaijan continues to increase its economic and military strength.

    "I do not doubt that Azerbaijani lands will be liberated. The main
    issue is whether it will be done peacefully or by force."

    The president said that the conflict settlement has been drawn out
    for a long time, while Azerbaijan cannot wait for ever. Speaking
    of definite achievements in the negotiation process, he said that
    the withdrawal of Armenian troops from all seven districts around
    Nagorno-Karabakh and the return of Azerbaijanis to Karabakh itself
    are being discussed.

    "This gives us hope and an additional stimulus for participation in
    the negotiations. We think that there is hope. But at the same time
    we see the Armenian side choosing tactics to delay the settlement,"
    Aliyev said. He said that this gives Yerevan time to settle Armenians
    in the occupied lands, but this will be difficult as Armenian
    citizens are leaving the country for a variety of reasons and the
    real population is just 1.7 million. The president thinks that this
    trend will weaken the contact line between Armenian and Azerbaijani
    troops in the conflict area.
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