AZERBAIJAN’S TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY IS NOT RELATED TO NAGORNO-KARABAKH REPUBLIC

Lragir, Armenia
Nov 1 2006

After the meeting of the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan
in Paris the Azerbaijani side did not state anything for several
days. Apparently, they were evaluating the results. And seven days
later the Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev suddenly gave a news
conference and made several significant statements. With regard to the
Karabakh issue he said that the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan
is not a subject of the talks, and all Baku can give to Karabakh is a
status of autonomy. In fact, Aliyev outlined the stiff borders of the
"compromise" acceptable for Baku before the meeting of the foreign
ministers in Brussels on November 14. Although the foreign minister of
Azerbaijan Mammedyarov followed him and tried to mitigate the words of
the president. He mentioned that the mediators take into consideration
not only the standpoint of Azerbaijan but also that of the other party.

Commenting on the statements of the Azerbaijani president, the deputy
foreign minister of NKR Masis Mayilyan said that the territorial
integrity of Azerbaijan has nothing to do with Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic. "Two independent states emerged in the territory of former
Soviet Azerbaijan, the Republic of Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic. NKR was established in accordance with all the international
standards. And in this sense the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan
cannot be a subject of the talks. The fact that the world recognized
the results of the referendum in Azerbaijan and did not recognize the
results of the referendum in Karabakh allowed Azerbaijan to claim to
Karabakh and use military force," said Masis Mayilyan.

The deputy foreign minister also commented on Ilham Aliyev’s statement
that if the independence of Karabakh is recognized, the Armenians
living in other countries will also claim independence.

Masis Mayilyan says the people of Karabakh have never been diaspora.

This territory has always been controlled by the Armenians, therefore
this comparison is absurd, says Masis Mayilyan.