ITAR-TASS News Agency
January 29, 2007 Monday

Azerbaijan not to agree to NKarabakh independence – Aliyev

Azerbaijan will never agree to the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh,
Azerbaijani President Ilkham Aliyev, who is beginning a visit to
Paris on Monday, said in an interview with Le Figaro newspaper.
France, together with Russia and the United States, is a mediator in
the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The Azerbaijani leader blamed Armenia for the absence of progress in
the negotiations. According to Aliyev, “the so-called referendum on
the constitution, held in Nagorno-Karabakh last December, was
absolutely illegal.” “Armenia should realise that we shall never
agree to the independence of that territory,” he said.

Aliyev assured that Baku would grant Nagorno-Karabakh “the broadest
possible autonomy within the framework of Azerbaijan.”

Responding to the question about whether or not he regarded as real
the prospect of an armed settlement of the conflict, Aliyev said:
“Obviously, our economic might and political prestige will make it
possible for us some day to take steps for the liberation of our
land. We prefer to settle the problem by peaceful means, however,
without starting a war.”