Ilham Aliyev: Azerbaijani flag will fly in Shusha, Khankendi, just as in Leletepe, Agdere

Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 18

Trend:

The Azerbaijani flag will fly in Shusha and Khankendi, just as it is flying today in Leletepe and Agdere, said Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev delivering a speech at the nationwide festivities on the occasion of Novruz, the Azerbaijani national holiday.

The president noted that Armenia must draw the right conclusion and must know that Azerbaijan will never accept the occupation of its lands by Armenia.

“We will restore our country’s territorial integrity at any cost. For this, of course, we are conducting a successful policy. Every day, every year we are approaching the day when the Azerbaijani flag will fly in Shusha and Khankendi, just as it is flying today in Leletepe and Agdere,” said President Aliyev.

The president went on to say that the main issue of foreign policy and Azerbaijan's policy as a whole is the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

"Unfortunately, there aren't serious movements here. On many occasions, I've spoken about the reasons - Armenia doesn't want peace, it wants to keep the status quo and doesn't want to leave the occupied territories. Because of this, Azerbaijan and the international community, the
mediators, should force it to do so. There is no other way, because right now, Armenia is trying to boycott the negotiations, and is isolating itself. The mediators, the co-chairing countries of the OSCE Minsk Group openly state that substantive talks should be resumed. Thus, I think that the sooner Armenia realizes that it cannot hold the occupied territories, the better it will be," the president said.

"We are not going to have this. We are getting stronger, we are strengthening our military and political power, international positions," Ilham Aliyev said.

The president said that Azerbaijani capital is hosting the V Baku Global Forum these days. Over forty current and former heads of states and governments are participating in it.

Ilham Aliyev said that Azerbaijan has already turned into an important country, not only in the region but also in the world.

"This is while Armenia is a country which has lost all hope, it lives in depression, and the reason for that is the criminal regime that has taken over the country through illegal ways. For Armenian people, the biggest threat is the current leadership," the president said.

The president went on to say that Azerbaijan's territorial integrity never was, and never will be the subject of negotiations.

The Nagorno-Karabakh is Azerbaijan’s native land, said the president adding that “we must restore our territorial integrity.”

“The international law also supports our position. The situation in the region works in our favor. It is clear that economic and military potential is also on our side. The April battles of the last year demonstrated this. Therefore, we must be much stronger, strengthen even
more and we are doing this,” noted President Aliyev.

Armenia can’t live without external help, he said.

"If before the April battles in their mythological activities they could, to some extent, achieve success, then the April battles inflicted a serious blow on their propaganda and shocked the Armenian society. The consequences of this shock are still felt there,” said the president adding that the April battles led to deep military and political crisis in Armenia.

“And these were short-term battles. Therefore, they must draw the right conclusions and know that we will never accept this situation. We will restore our territorial integrity at any cost,” noted President Aliyev.

The president noted that international relations in recent years show that, unfortunately, international organizations no longer have serious influence.

Big states pursue their own interests and distort the international law as they please, said President Aliyev, adding that “in such situation, power is a main factor and we know that”.