Azerbaijan says reserving right to free its occupied territories

11.09.2004, 13.10

BARDA, Azerbaijan, September 11 (Itar-Tass) – Azerbaijani government
envisions an increase of defense spending in 2005, President Ilham
Aliyev said Saturday during a meeting with Azerbaijani refugees in
the Barda district that borders the much-troubled region of Nagorny
Karabakh.

â^À^ÜThis increase will strengthen our Armed Forces and will make
it one of the guarantors of settling the Karabakh conflict,â^À^Ý
Aliiyev said.

That conflict in the mostly Armenian-populated Karabakh enclave
has been going on since 1988 along a pattern similar to most ethnic
conflicts on the territory of the former USSR.

Karabakhâ^À^Ùs Armenians are trying to win independence from
Azerbaijan. In the early 1990â^À^Ùs, the tensions between the sides
took the form of open armed hostilities.

Efforts to settle the conflict have been made for years, but they
have produced small results so far.

Aliyev reiterated that Azeirbaijan is seeking a peaceful solution to
the conflict.

â^À^ÜAs long as there is hope for that [peace settlement], weâ^À^Ùll
continue the talks, but if they prove ineffective, the Azerbaijanis
will free the occupied territories by any means,â^À^Ý he said. â^À^ÜWe
have all the prerequisites for it â^À^Ó the patriotic spirit,
mobilization of our people, and the persistently growing economic
potentialâ^À^Ý.

As he addressed a meeting with public representatives in Barda on the
same day, Aliyev said: â^À^ÜThe people of Azerbaijan must be prepared
to liberate its occupied lands by forceâ^À^Ý.

â^À^ÜThere is no possibility of making compromises in what concerns
Azerbaijanâ^À^Ùs territorial integrity,â^À^Ý he said.