ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
October 14, 2005 Friday
Azerbaijan still committed to peaceful Karabakh settlement – pres
By Sevindzh Abdullayeva, Viktor Shulman
BAKU
Azerbaijan’s President Ilkham Aliyev said his country remains
committed to a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict
as the potential of negotiations has not been exhausted.
However, “despite all efforts, the talks remain uneventful,” Aliyev
said Friday as he addressed the participants in the fourth forum of
young people.
Azerbaijan can only claim certain diplomat success, because one can
feel positive changes in the positions on the problem held by
different international organizations. “But this success has no
significance if there are no results,” the president said.
“As long as the opportunities of the negotiating process have not
been exhausted, we’ll be committed to a peaceful way of settling the
conflict, but our patience is not endless,” Aliyev said, adding that
the “current situation cannot keep forever.”
“I’m sure that if we wish a just solution of the problem, we must pay
special attention to army construction,” Aliyev said.
He noted that this thesis was among the priorities during his
election campaign in 2003.
Azerbaijan’s defense spending in 2004 made up 170 million dollars and
is expected to reach 600 million dollars in 2006.
“We’ll make sure that Azerbaijan’s defense budget will be as big as
the entire budget of Armenia,” the president said.
Azerbaijan will create a power army, and the occupied territories of
the country will certainly be liberated, he stated.