BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 24
Trend:
The fact that Charles Michel did not use the words “status” and “Nagorno-Karabakh” was a very wise step, of course, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said in an interview to Azerbaijan Television, Trend reports.
“It was the step of a statesman. We appreciate this and Armenia must draw the right conclusion. There is neither a status nor Nagorno-Karabakh. The Nagorno-Karabakh autonomous region was established on 7 July 1923 as an artificial formation. The Armenians represented in the Soviet government at the time simply made this illegal and completely unfounded decision, and Soviet Azerbaijan, of course, had to agree and come to terms with that at that time. Nobody even asked us. But it was a completely unfounded and artificial entity," said the president.
"A month after the restoration of independence, in November 1991, the parliament of Azerbaijan abolished the Nagorno-Karabakh autonomous region. These are documents, and it was abolished legally. It had the powers to do this. Why was the word “Nagorno-Karabakh” used after that? Because of the conflict – in international documents and then at the negotiating table. I myself have repeatedly used the expression “Nagorno-Karabakh” in connection with the conflict, but not in connection with the territory," he said.
"I should also add that every time this or that issue related to the conflict was touched upon, I always used the phrase “the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh”. I have never used the words “Nagorno-Karabakh conflict” without saying “Armenian-Azerbaijani” one. There is a reason for that. It means something. Of course, it is inappropriate to talk about Nagorno-Karabakh after the war ended and the conflict was resolved. Therefore, I said that there is no such territorial unit in Azerbaijan. If someone likes these words, then I don't mind that, let them establish a region called Nagorno-Karabakh in their countries or give this name to some region. Let them create a republic – it is up to them. In other words, there is no administrative unit in the territory of Azerbaijan called Nagorno-Karabakh, and the fact that Charles Michel did not use these words, of course, should be taken as a sign of respect for our position. The same holds true for the issue of status. On 10 November, after the end of the war, I said where the status is. It is still there and it will stay there, burning in flames, forever. So there can be no other opinions on this issue either,” the head of state said.