Azerbaijan, Baku, 24 October / Trend , corr. J.Babayeva / Azerbaijan will never give the independence to Nagorno-Karabakh either today or tomorrow, or ten or fifty years later, the Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said in his inauguration ceremony in Baku on 24 October.
"The negotiation process to settle the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh is held on the principle of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, and our steps have led to consolidation of Azerbaijan's position in the negotiation process," Ilham Aliyev said.
Now, world knows that the 'frozen conflicts' should be settled to ensure stability in the region.
"This solution should be based on international principles and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan must be restored. The territorial integrity of Azerbaijan cannot be a subject of negotiations," the Azerbaijani President said. The country will never take such a step, the President added.
"We are interested in continuing negotiations and hope that these negotiations may result in fair settlement of the dispute," Aliyev said.
By founding a strong military potential Azerbaijan will advance settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the President said.
The army building is still underway. If in 2003, the military expenditure in Azerbaijan was $163mln, the figure reached $1.850bln in 2008. The military assignments of the public budget will be increased in 2009.
The conflict between the two countries of the South Caucasus began in 1988 due to Armenian territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since 1992, Armenian Armed Forces have occupied 20% of Azerbaijan including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and its seven surrounding districts. In 1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement at which time the active hostilities ended. The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group ( Russia, France, and the US) are currently holding peaceful negotiations.
On 22 October, the Constitutional Court of Azerbaijan approved of the results of the 15 October presidential election.
As a result of the election, Chairman of the New Azerbaijan Party (NAP), President Ilham Aliyev won the election in a landslide - 88.73% of votes.
Ilham Aliyev, the fourth President of Azerbaijan, was born in Baku on 24 December 1961 as the son of renowned political figure Heydar Aliyev. After completing school in Baku, Aliyev attended Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO), receiving a PhD in history, before starting to teach at MGIMO. In 1991-1994, Aliyev was engaged in entrepreneurship and was the Director General of a commercial company in Moscow.
Aliyev was appointed Vice-President of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) in 1994 and its First Vice-President in 1996. On 4 August 2003, Aliyev was promoted to Prime Minister position. He was twice elected MP of the Azerbaijani Parliament.
Since 1997, Aliyev has been leading the National Olympic Committee. In October 2003, Aliyev was elected President of Azerbaijan for the first term of office.
In October 2003, Ilham Aliyev was elected President of Azerbaijan for the first term.
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