Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 11
Trend:
Unfortunately, in 2014 there also was no progress in the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said at a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers dedicated to the outcome of the socio-economic development in 2014 and the upcoming challenges.
The president said in 2014 Armenia chose a strategy of imitations in the negotiation process.
"I believe that it's not a secret for us or the mediators that Armenia doesn't want peace. It doesn't want the conflict to be settled, and doesn't want to leave the occupied lands," said Ilham Aliyev.
"This is despite that the presidents of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries have repeatedly said that the status quo is unacceptable. But those are just words, behind which there is no serious policy. If the status quo is unacceptable, and it is of course unacceptable, then some measures have to be taken," he said.
"The pressure must be exerted on the aggressor country, this country must be forced to withdraw from the occupied lands," Aliyev said. "Otherwise, this will be a kind of hypocrisy. A statement is made, but there's no work following it. Just like the UN Security Council, which adopted four resolutions. For more than 20 years, none of these resolutions have been fulfilled."
"Why the adopted resolutions are immediately fulfilled in other cases, but in ours do not? This is injustice and double standards," he said.
Ilham Aliyev went on to add that Azerbaijani people are already well aware that the unresolved problem can not be explained only by Armenia's unconstructive position.
He said that apparently, there are some forces in the world which are not interested in resolving this conflict.
"Apparently, there are some forces which are interested in seeing this conflict to remain "frozen", "partially frozen" and use it as a means of pressure on Azerbaijan," the president said.
He said that the situation observer in different regions such as Europe, Middle East in the recent years, further strengthens this position, this approach.
"Such a conclusion comes from the processes. Thus, it must be clarified, until when we will be dealing with these double standards?!, " the president said.
President Aliyev reminded that Armenia has repeatedly resorted to open provocation in summer of 2014 and at the end of the same year.
"Both times the Azerbaijani army gave a fitting response to the enemy," the president said. "More than 50 invaders were killed in the summer months, and Armenians' provocation in September was also prevented."
Ilham Aliyev said that Armenia's leadership - the criminal, dictatorial regime is responsible for the mentioned provocations.
"The country's current and former leadership is also directly responsible for Armenia's current deplorable situation. Armenia could not establish itself as an independent country because of the invasive policy," he said.
"Armenia, in fact, didn't even achieve independence. This is simply of a formal nature," the president said. He added that Azerbaijan has also a principled position in this issue
"Our position is based on international law," the president said. "Our position is strengthened by our army. Our army demonstrated all its power, capability in 2014. It showed the enemy and the enemy's patrons that the Azerbaijani army can at any time restore its territorial integrity. It's just better that issue is resolved through negotiations. I think that these several factors further strengthen our position."
The president said that although there has been no progress achieved in the negotiations, he believes a lot of work has was carried out in 2014 to resolve the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, in terms of policy, regional framework, as well as in the military sphere - on the battlefield.
"We taught the Armenians a lesson they still can't recover from, they're confused and in panic," Ilham Aliyev said.
"Now, they're trying to blame us during various international events. But, let me ask - why is there an Armenian soldier in Aghdam, Fizuli districts? What does the Armenian army do there? Why does no one openly talk about this, except us? Why are the mediators involved in the issue indifferent to this?," he said.
"These are rhetorical questions, we know why. Nevertheless, we must ask these questions at every event, every forum."
"The state officials, public figures, MPs, ordinary citizens, members of civil society must ask these questions," the president said. "Let the questions on the policy of double standards, pro-Armenian policy, be answered, because this hipocrisy is getting hard to bear. I believe in this case, there's no need to talk in diplomatic language."
President Ilham Aliyev further said that the truth is that the continued occupation of Azerbaijani lands is not only because of Armenia.
"Armenia is a powerless, poor country. It is in a helpless condition," he continued. "Of course, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict would have been resolved fairly long time ago, if it wasn't for Armenia's influential patrons in various capitals. Today even the Armenian leadership recognizes this."
"Without external support, Armenia will not be able to keep the occupied lands for even one day," he said. "Meanwhile Azerbaijan is fighting on its own. Our recently
"Without the external support they will fail to keep the occupied lands at least a day," Aliyev said. "Azerbaijan is fighting alone. Our recent history has shown that even alone Azerbaijan can succeed and protect its national interests in the political fight."
President Aliyev said that Azerbaijan will further strengthen its army potential in 2015.
"Huge funds were allocated for this purpose," the president said. "It should be noted that the funds allocated for military spending exceed Armenia's total budget twofold. The discipline and combat capability are growing in our army. The patriotic spirit is at a high level. Azerbaijan becomes stronger, while Armenia weakens. This is an inevitable process. That is, this process will continue even faster in the coming years."