Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 27 / Trend /
The reason for nom-resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is an unconstructive position of Armenia, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said in an interview with the Ukrainian media on the eve of his official visit to Ukraine. President Aliyev said that delaying the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement is also associated with a wrong view of Yerevan, who thinks preserving the status quo is up its interests, Den newspaper reported.
"The Armenian side tries to delay the settlement process by all means. Sometimes the issues, which have already been agreed, are raised by Armenia again as a topic for discussion. Thus, there are attempts to make this process endless. This is the main reason," President Aliyev said.
The second reason is that the international community is indifferent to the international organizations' decisions which the international community takes itself. Armenia roughly violates international law.
"The territory of Azerbaijan, recognized by the world community, is under occupation for 20 years. War crimes were committed. Khojaly town was completely destroyed andf a genocide was committed against Azerbaijanis. About 613 civilians were killed, including more than a hundred children. These bloody war crimes were virtually unnoticed by the world community. This much more inspired the aggressor," the President said.
With regard to the history of the problem, historically Nagorno-Karabakh was always a part of Azerbaijan's territory. The word Karabakh has Azerbaijani roots. It means nothing in Armenian, President Aliyev said.
"The capital of Nagorno-Karabakh was the city of Stepanokert in Soviet times. It was named in 1920s in honor of Stepan Shahumyan. This city has no historical Armenian name. It was called Khankendi. The historical background, of course, is important. We must not forget about this," Aliyev stressed.
According to President Aliyev, it is more important to resolve the conflict within the norms and principles of international law, namely: the restoration of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity, the withdrawal of all occupying forces from the occupied territory. This is not only Nagorno-Karabakh but also seven adjacent regions.
"With regards to the self-determination of population, it may be successfully resolved within Azerbaijan's territorial integrity. We need the political will of the Armenian side, as well as the active position of the mediators in this issue. Azerbaijan will never reconcile with the loss of its territory. We will restore it. I would like this to be done quickly, without military actions," he said.
President Aliyev expressed gratitude to Ukraine for its consistent and fundamental stance on the conflict settlement, which is fully consistent with the principles and norms of international law and UN Security Council resolutions.
"In particular, I want to note once again that Azerbaijan with great gratitude accepted Ukraine's support during the vote at the UN General Assembly on the resolution introduced by Azerbaijan," he said.
"We want all the conflicts to be resolved. If this happens, I am sure that all countries will feel the benefit. The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is a number one problem for us. That is, I do not see any other problem today, in short or long-term prospect besides this one," he said.
Azerbaijan's economy is developing steadily. The country is dynamic and modern. It has a certain weight in world affairs, not to mention the regional ones, President Aliyev said.
"Nagorno-Karabakh conflict did not restrain our economic development. We have achieved success with a population of 9 million people, a million refugees and internally displaced people. Just imagine what the situation would be if we had not have this. We spend much money not only on defense, but on resettlement of refugees in normal houses. We build settlements, schools, hospitals and roads. We spend hundreds of millions of dollars on this," he said.
The same refers to Armenia. It could be involved in regional projects of cooperation and economic integration, President Aliyev said.
"This will not happen until the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is resolved. I think they also felt absolutely unfounded hopes for settlement of their relations with Turkey and relied on opening the Armenian-Turkish border. But this did not happen. Firstly, it is impossible to normalize relations with the country with which you have territorial claims and which you try to discredit in all international organizations by the pretended so-called "genocide", President Aliyev said.
On the other hand, there is the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. It is the main hindrance in cooperation in the region, he said.
So, Armenia today has a prospect either to conduct an aggressive policy and violate international norms and much more drive itself into a corner or abandon this and establish normal relations with Azerbaijan and other countries.
"Armenia has territorial claims not only to Azerbaijan and Turkey. There are other countries in the region to which these claims have not been voiced yet. But we will live in this region. Therefore, it is always better to have a rich neighbor-friend, but not an enemy, " President Aliyev said.