AZERI PRESIDENT ACCUSES EUROPE OF HYPOCRISY AND ILLEGALITY

YEREVAN, JULY 7. ARMINFO. IN an interview to Turkish journalist Ardan
Zenturk Azeri President Ilham Aliev complains of Europe’s double
standards with respect to Baku and Ankara.

He calls hypocrisy and illegality the EU’s urging Turkey to open its
border with Armenia in the context of the lack of pressure on the
latter. But this is reality. Even rejecting it we have to accept
it. The world is unfair and this approach has once again proved
that. “We should be stronger and get together to attain our goal.”
“The Armenains have occupied our lands for over 10 years while some
still say that we should reach agreement with them. But how? They do
not want to give back our lands and demand Karabakh’s independence,”
wonders Aliev.

“We cannot do that as Karabakh is a native Azeri land and cannot be
separated from Azerbaijan,” says Aliev noting that the different
approach of the international community to the Karabakh conflict as
compared with the other Caucasian conflicts is due to the Armenian
lobby.

He says that the situation over Turkey’s admission into the EU is also
a dual standard policy.