BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 28
Trend:
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, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said in an interview to the Turkish Anadolu Agency, Trend reports.
“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.