Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Sept 22 2004

Azerbaijan’s stance on settlement of Garabagh conflict remains
unchanged, President says

Baku, September 21, AssA-Irada
On Tuesday, President Ilham Aliyev received Philip Dimitrov, the OSCE
chairman’s special envoy on Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Upper
Garabagh was the topic of discussions.
Touching upon the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Upper Garabagh and
Armenia’s aggression against Azerbaijan, President Aliyev noted that
the conflict creates great obstacles for ensuring peace and stability
in the entire region.
Aliyev stressed that Azerbaijan’s position towards the conflict
remains unchanged. The problem should be settled within international
legal norms and principles of the territorial integrity and
inviolability of borders, he said.
The Azerbaijani President noted that the conflict will never be
solved if there is another approach to the issue. Peace and security
will be ensured in the region and the country’s economy rapidly
developed if the Upper Garabagh conflict is solved, he stressed.
President Aliyev underscored that international organizations are
more interested in peaceful settlement of the conflict. Expressing
his disappointment with the failure of the OSCE Minsk Group to solve
the conflict so far, Aliyev voiced a hope that the Minsk Group will
step up its efforts in this respect.
Dimitrov, in his turn, underlined that the meetings of Azerbaijani
and Armenian presidents play a great role in the peaceful resolution
of the Upper Garabagh conflict. He voiced a hope that the conflicting
sides will step up their efforts to settle the conflict.*