KOCHARYAN SOFTENED AFTER RICE CALLED HIM BUT STILL NOT ENOUGH TO AGREE FOR PEACE, ILHAM ALIYEV TOLD TURKISH “HURRIYET”
Azerbaijan News Service
Sept 3 2005
“Azerbaijan is very strong and Armenia will not withstand its
pressure. Nevertheless, we do not want war, as a great number of
people may die. I believe, earlier or later we will return our lands.
Let nobody has doubts in this respect”, the interview of the President
of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev with the Turkish “Hurriet” newspaper,
published on 2 September. “Each Azerbaijani is deeply confident, the
day will come, when the occupied lands will be freed, and the banner of
Azerbaijan will flutter again over Karabakh”, President Ilham Aliyev
emphasized, having also commented on the results of the meeting with
the Armenian President Kocharyan in Kazan. “There are no results so
far. The Armenians expect we will give them independence. However,
it is impossible. The first priority for us is to preserve the
territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. I told Kocharyan, we are ready
to guarantee the security of the Armenian community of Karabakh. I
stressed, Baku will not allow the community to face any danger”, Ilham
Aliyev said and added, “however, they (the Armed Forces of Armenia)
do not want to free our lands”. At the same time President Ilham
Aliyev noted, that during the recent telephone talk the US State
Secretary Condoleezza Rice stated, Washington wants the sides to
come to the conflict settlement. “I do not understand, why Armenia,
being an occupier country is not punished, although, undoubtedly,
I also understand, the Armenian lobby is rather strong.
The present situation is extremely unfair”, Aliyev said. He noted,
after this conversation I felt some softening in the position of
Kocharyan, although it is not sufficient for the problem settlement.
“We took all possible moves. However, Armenia did not take heed
of the world public opinion. Over 1 million citizens of Azerbaijan
remained homeless. The West stands for the soonest settlement of the
conflict. We will do our utmost for that”, Aliyev summarized. The
Turkish “Hurriet” newspaper’s issue of 2 September placed an
interview of the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev with the
newspaper’s director on the informational matters, a journalist Tufan
Turenc. According to Trend, the interview notes, that President of
Azerbaijan put aside without opening a letter of the President of
the Greek Cyprus Papadopulos, in which there was a sharp criticism
of actions of the official Baku in regard to setting up the economic
relations with the Northern Cyprus. Furthermore, the author cites
the President of Azerbaijan: “The first moves towards Azerbaijan
were taken by the leadership of Greece, which called our Ambassador
to the Foreign Ministry and handed in the note to him. However, we
did not pay attention to it. Then came the letter from the Cypriot
Republic, which I put aside without opening. Nobody is entitled to
exert pressure on Azerbaijan”. President Ilham Aliyev underlined,
he ignores the international pressure in this issue. The head of the
state reminded, many people did not believe his statements to disrupt
the isolation regime of the Northen Cyprus. “There were many critical
articles to my address. But I kept my word. The time came for other
Turkish states to support the position of Azerbaijan on this issue.
“Now it is their turn to take similar steps’, Aliyev said. Responding
the question, whether new initiatives from Azerbaijan follow in
this direction Ilham Aliyev replied “We will do everything possible,
as we believe, the isolation of the Northern Cyprus must be eliminated.
There must be an end to injustice. Why is the side, which supported
the UNO plan on the island’s unification punished? It is not possible
either understand or accept”.