ANS TV, Azerbaijan
Jan 12 2008
AZERI PRESIDENT SAYS 2008 TO BE DECISIVE IN KARABAKH SETTLEMENT
[Presenter] Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has named the
districts that must be liberated from occupation.
[Presenter continuing over video of Aliyev addressing a cabinet
meeting] He said at a cabinet meeting that Armenia’s nonconstructive
position and the world community’s indifference to the issue makes
the peaceful settlement of the Nagornyy Karabakh problem impossible.
Although the whole world admits that Azerbaijan’s position is right,
this support is not yielding real results, the president said. The
head of state said that 2008 will be a decisive year in the
settlement of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict. This year will clearly
show where we are and whether it is possible to solve the issue in a
peaceful way or not. After that, we will make our own decision.
The president said that Azerbaijan will never discuss its territorial
integrity. The independence of Nagornyy Karabakh is not and will not
be subject to discussion now or in the future.
Ilham Aliyev also said that the Armenian leadership sometimes makes
false statements for domestic consumption. He said that the essence
of the negotiations is [the Armenians’] withdrawal from all occupied
territories of Azerbaijan and the return of Azerbaijani citizens to
Nagornyy Karabakh.
The districts of Agdam, Fizuli, Zangilan, Cabrayil, Qubadli, Kalbacar
and Lacin must be vacated. I listed all these districts so that the
Armenians do not make false statements for their own political
purposes tomorrow.
The withdrawal of the Armenian occupying forces from all these
districts and the return of Azerbaijani displaced persons to Nagornyy
Karabakh and Susa are the main essence of the negotiations. This is
the reality, end quote.
Saying that Armenia is a mono-ethnic state that has expelled all
other ethnic groups and lives in a closed, militarized and
anti-democratic regime, the president added that a criminal bandit
group has seized the region of Nagornyy Karabakh and a
military-criminal regime is in power there. This is a region that is
beyond any international monitoring, and no-one knows what is going
on there, what arms and terrorist forces are kept there and how drugs
are cultivated there. This is a black stain within Europe.
[Aliyev addressing the cabinet meeting] Of course, we are very
concerned about the unfair Nagornyy Karabakh problem, which is the
most painful and difficult problem for us, and its unresolved status.
We are trying to solve the issue in a peaceful way, but we can see
that it is not possible to achieve this yet. What is the reason? It
is Armenia’s nonconstructive position and the world community’s
indifferent attitude to this issue. We have to be honest about
everything. The whole world admits and states, and Azerbaijan’s
territorial integrity is supported, recognized and defended in all
bilateral and international meetings and official documents. And we
can hear everywhere that you are right, your territory has been
occupied and justice is on your side.