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KARABAKH TO REMAIN PART OF AZERBAIJAN - ILHAM ALIYEV
news.az
July 14 2010
Azerbaijan
President Ilham Aliyev President Ilham Aliyev has reiterated that
the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh will always be part of
Azerbaijan.
In his opening address to yesterday's expanded session of the Cabinet
to review the first six months of the year, the president said that
Nagorno-Karabakh would always remain part of Azerbaijan and that the
will of the Azerbaijani people was crucial.
"I expressed my views on the settlement of the conflict during my
recent meeting with the Azerbaijani community of Nagorno-Karabakh,"
he told the meeting, according to state-run news agency AzerTAj. "The
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will be solved on the basis of the will of
the Azerbaijani people."
"I want to reiterate that Azerbaijan's territorial integrity has never
been and will never be open to discussion," the president continued.
"What the mediators propose is that Azerbaijan's territorial integrity
should be restored, the Armenian aggressors should withdraw from all
the occupied territories, and Azerbaijanis - internally displaced
persons - should return, and they will return, to their native lands,
including Nagorno-Karabakh.
"And as far as the future status of Nagorno-Karabakh is concerned,
no status can be given to Nagorno-Karabakh without the consent of the
Azerbaijani state. This is an integral part of the talks. This means
that neither Armenia nor the separatists of Nagorno-Karabakh nor any
third force can grant status to Nagorno-Karabakh without Azerbaijan's
involvement and consent. And this is the essence of the negotiations."
The president emphasized his point: "When the Armenians say the day
will come when Nagorno-Karabakh will be independent, this is nothing
but their illusion, nothing but their desire, nothing but their dream.
The documents on the table clearly show everything related to the
status of Nagorno-Karabakh and how it should be defined.
"The Azerbaijani state and the people of Azerbaijan will never grant a
status to Nagorno-Karabakh that can separate it from Azerbaijan. And
the negotiations contain no mechanism related to Nagorno-Karabakh's
separation from Azerbaijan, and they can never contain such a
mechanism."
Ilham Aliyev reviewed the country's increased military spending. "We
took very important steps in the military industry in 2009. We've been
strengthening our military potential. Recently we made changes to our
budget, which now stands at $15bn. We allocated an additional $500m to
military spending. And this is part of our single-minded policy. We
have to focus, first and foremost, on strengthening the country's
military potential, and this is what we are doing. Azerbaijan's
military spending today is $2.15bn, which is more than the total
budget of Armenia. And we've achieved the goal that we set ourselves
a few years ago. This allows us to modernize our army and purchase
state-of-the-art weapons and military equipment."
The president stressed his preference for a peaceful resolution of
the conflict, but said that Azerbaijan should always be ready for a
military solution too.
"Our military power can play a decisive role in the settlement of
the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. However,
we don't want this to happen. We want the issue to be solved through
negotiations, through diplomatic means. But military power will
strengthen our position.
"We must be ready to liberate our occupied lands at any time. And I'm
completely confident that Azerbaijan is capable of doing so today. We
have considerably increased our military power."
'In Armenia, some believe that they won the first stage of the war,
but I think they lost," Ilham Aliyev said.
"Azerbaijan has travelled a long and successful path during the
ceasefire period. Azerbaijan is today held in great respect at the
international level, and we are playing a decisive role in the region.
"Azerbaijan must make it to the ranks of the developed countries in
terms of economic progress, and this is our goal. We are a modern
country. This is why the first stage of the war decides nothing. It
only proves that the people of Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijani state
will never accept this situation and will restore their territorial
integrity by any means."
From: A. Papazian
news.az
July 14 2010
Azerbaijan
President Ilham Aliyev President Ilham Aliyev has reiterated that
the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh will always be part of
Azerbaijan.
In his opening address to yesterday's expanded session of the Cabinet
to review the first six months of the year, the president said that
Nagorno-Karabakh would always remain part of Azerbaijan and that the
will of the Azerbaijani people was crucial.
"I expressed my views on the settlement of the conflict during my
recent meeting with the Azerbaijani community of Nagorno-Karabakh,"
he told the meeting, according to state-run news agency AzerTAj. "The
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will be solved on the basis of the will of
the Azerbaijani people."
"I want to reiterate that Azerbaijan's territorial integrity has never
been and will never be open to discussion," the president continued.
"What the mediators propose is that Azerbaijan's territorial integrity
should be restored, the Armenian aggressors should withdraw from all
the occupied territories, and Azerbaijanis - internally displaced
persons - should return, and they will return, to their native lands,
including Nagorno-Karabakh.
"And as far as the future status of Nagorno-Karabakh is concerned,
no status can be given to Nagorno-Karabakh without the consent of the
Azerbaijani state. This is an integral part of the talks. This means
that neither Armenia nor the separatists of Nagorno-Karabakh nor any
third force can grant status to Nagorno-Karabakh without Azerbaijan's
involvement and consent. And this is the essence of the negotiations."
The president emphasized his point: "When the Armenians say the day
will come when Nagorno-Karabakh will be independent, this is nothing
but their illusion, nothing but their desire, nothing but their dream.
The documents on the table clearly show everything related to the
status of Nagorno-Karabakh and how it should be defined.
"The Azerbaijani state and the people of Azerbaijan will never grant a
status to Nagorno-Karabakh that can separate it from Azerbaijan. And
the negotiations contain no mechanism related to Nagorno-Karabakh's
separation from Azerbaijan, and they can never contain such a
mechanism."
Ilham Aliyev reviewed the country's increased military spending. "We
took very important steps in the military industry in 2009. We've been
strengthening our military potential. Recently we made changes to our
budget, which now stands at $15bn. We allocated an additional $500m to
military spending. And this is part of our single-minded policy. We
have to focus, first and foremost, on strengthening the country's
military potential, and this is what we are doing. Azerbaijan's
military spending today is $2.15bn, which is more than the total
budget of Armenia. And we've achieved the goal that we set ourselves
a few years ago. This allows us to modernize our army and purchase
state-of-the-art weapons and military equipment."
The president stressed his preference for a peaceful resolution of
the conflict, but said that Azerbaijan should always be ready for a
military solution too.
"Our military power can play a decisive role in the settlement of
the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. However,
we don't want this to happen. We want the issue to be solved through
negotiations, through diplomatic means. But military power will
strengthen our position.
"We must be ready to liberate our occupied lands at any time. And I'm
completely confident that Azerbaijan is capable of doing so today. We
have considerably increased our military power."
'In Armenia, some believe that they won the first stage of the war,
but I think they lost," Ilham Aliyev said.
"Azerbaijan has travelled a long and successful path during the
ceasefire period. Azerbaijan is today held in great respect at the
international level, and we are playing a decisive role in the region.
"Azerbaijan must make it to the ranks of the developed countries in
terms of economic progress, and this is our goal. We are a modern
country. This is why the first stage of the war decides nothing. It
only proves that the people of Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijani state
will never accept this situation and will restore their territorial
integrity by any means."
From: A. Papazian