BAKU HOPES FOR PEACEFUL SETTLEMENT TO KARABAKH CONFLICT – ALIYEV

Interfax News Agency
Russia & CIS Military Newswire
February 21, 2007 Wednesday 2:31 PM MSK

President Ilham Aliyev has said that he hopes that the Armenian
leadership will withdraw its armed forces from Nagorno-Karabakh.

"We’ve been in the negotiating process for more than ten years
now and we hope that the Armenian leadership will find wisdom and
courage in itself and withdraw its occupying forces from our lands,"
Aliyev said in an interview with Western media outlets published in
the Azeri press on Wednesday.

"If not, events may start evolving in an unexpected manner. Today’s
Azerbaijan is much stronger than Armenia. Our economy is seven times
stronger than Armenia’s, and it may increase 20 to 30 times in the
following years. Azerbaijan’s patience has limit," he said.