Interfax, Russia
Nov 27 2008
Nagorno-Karabakh declaration does not rule out war – Aliyev
BAKU Nov 27
An Azeri-Armenian-Russian declaration signed early this month and
generally hailed as marking significant progress toward the settlement
of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict does not prevent Azerbaijan from
using armed force to resolve the conflict, Azeri President Ilham
Aliyev said.
"No one would be able to find a commitment in that declaration that
bars the military way [of resolving the conflict] to Azerbaijan,"
Aliyev told Italian television channel RAI International.
Azeri state television AzTV also broadcast the interview.
The declaration, issued at a Russian-brokered Azeri-Armenian summit in
Moscow, says the conflict must resolved by political means.
"On the basis of all international standards, every state possesses a
right to self-defense. Azerbaijan is a victim of Armenian aggression.
As a result of this aggression, it is not only Nagorno-Karabakh that
is under Armenian occupation but also seven districts outside it in
which Armenians have never lived. Our people are suffering from this,
and so, while we hope for a political solution, we must simultaneously
be ready to take any measures and the military way is not, has never
been and never will be ruled out as a way of restoring our territorial
integrity," Aliyev said.
Azerbaijan has become much more powerful in military, political and
economic terms during the past five years, he said.
"But the fact that there have been negotiations for nearly two decades
shows that a peaceful way is our goal. No one wants a war in the
Caucasus. But at the same time we cannot put up with the present-day
situation," Aliyev said.
The so-called Moscow declaration bears the signatures of Aliyev and
his Armenian and Russian counterparts, Serzh Sargsyan and Dmitry
Medvedev.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
