BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 28
Trend:
It is completely in their nature to call “white black and black white”. Therefore, when they come up with this or that statement, we, frankly, do not take it seriously, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said in an interview to the Turkish Anadolu Agency, Trend reports.
“The Armenian leadership made a great number of such contradictory and false statements both before and during the war. We can cite such examples for hours now. While we were liberating our cities and villages, they were declaring that they were supposedly re-occupying our cities. When we hoisted our flags in liberated Azerbaijani cities, they denied it. In other words, it is completely in their nature to call “white black and black white”. Therefore, when they come up with this or that statement, we, frankly, do not take it seriously. It is necessary to analyze and clarify this because such statements are a synthesis of lies, unfulfilled desires, dreams and provocations. Such is the present-day Armenia. This is exactly what we mean when we say that this is a failed state. There is even an international name for that – a failed state. Responsible behavior is also one of the symbols of the statehood of any state. We do not see this,” President Ilham Aliyev said.
“As for the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations, of course, we are interested in peace in the entire region. I believe that the 3+3 platform proposed by the distinguished President Recep Tayyip Erdogan could be the best way for that. But Armenia has not yet agreed to this. It is being announced by the President of Turkey today, and Armenia is being given a chance. This has been supported by Azerbaijan, Russia and Iran, but Armenia is opposed. While opposing this, Armenia declares that it wants the normalization of relations with Turkey. If you are interested in a normalization, you should, first of all, respond to this proposal positively. Otherwise, a contradiction arises here again, it is unclear. If Armenia’s official statements are consistent with its policies for once, then, of course, it will become easier to analyze. Besides, you are well aware that there is a territorial claim against Turkey in the Constitution of Armenia. They should abandon that. They need to revise and re-adopt their constitution. What territorial claims can such a powerless and completely defeated country as Armenia put forward against such a gigantic country as Turkey? It looks like a mental illness. Therefore, they must give up their claims against Turkey and Azerbaijan. They should normalize relations with Azerbaijan. I am sure that the Turkish side has always supported peace and broad-based cooperation in the region. This is the case today, as very positive signals are coming from Turkey,” Azerbaijani president said.
“But Armenia should assess this very correctly. Unfortunately, the positive signals coming out of Azerbaijan for the two years preceding the second Karabakh war were misinterpreted there for weakness and powerlessness. We simply didn't want to shed blood. We were aware of our own strength and knew that we could resolve this issue by military means. Armenia did not believe in this. It is still not too late. Let them appreciate the new reality correctly, take actions in accordance with it, look at the map and find their place if they can find it at all. It is just a dot on the map, so they should take steps in accordance with that. In this case, of course, large-scale cooperation would be possible in the region,” the head of state said.