BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 18
Trend:
As long as there is no progress in the negotiations, there can be no talk of any cooperation with Armenia, said President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev during the meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers dedicated to the results of socio-economic development in the first quarter of 2020 and future objectives, Trend reports.
“I have said this before and all international organizations, including the Minsk Group co-chairs, know this. Although over the past almost 17 years I have repeatedly received proposals to start cooperation with Armenia in one form or another – humanitarian, in matters of confidence building measures, etc. I said that we can be ready for this, but we must see progress in the negotiations, see that we are moving closer to a peace agreement, step by step. If this is not the case, then what is the point of cooperation? This cooperation can only be harmful to us,” said President Ilham Aliyev.
The head of state said that he adheres to this position today.
“Go put pressure on the occupying state, bring it to its senses and finally tell them that they must leave our lands. If this happens and such a prospect seems realistic, then, yes, after that we can take certain steps. But under the current conditions when the prime minister of Armenia says, “Karabakh is Armenia, period”, I give an answer to this. Did the Ministry of Foreign Affairs respond to this at any level? I have not heard that, and neither have the Azerbaijani people. Who should do this in the first place? The Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It is silent. I said that as long as there is no progress in the negotiations, there can be no talk of any cooperation with Armenia. It turns out that COVID is being discussed. So should we help the Armenian occupiers in connection with COVID?” said President Ilham Aliyev.