AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT CHARACTERIZES THE YEAR OF 2009 AS POSITIVE IN TERM OF SETTLEMENT OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH, BUT "LESS POSITIVE THAN IT MIGHT BE."

Trend
Dec 24 2009
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev characterized the year of 2009 as
positive in term of settlement of the Armenian -Azerbaijani conflict
over Nagorno-Karabakh, but saying it was "less positive than it
might be."

"There is proximity in some positions, while there are disagreements
on others," Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev told Russian television
channel Vesti.

Aliyev said even in 2008 the Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents held
talks. A joint declaration on the way of solution to Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict was signed with the participation of the Russian Federation.

"The document clearly indicated that the conflict should be solved
on the basis of international law, decisions and resolutions of
international organizations. There are four resolutions of the UN
Security Council, demanding urgent withdrawal of Armenian occupation
forces from the Azerbaijani territory. They have not been implemented
for over 20 years," the Azerbaijani president said.

According to President Aliyev it is important to restore the
territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, to deoccupy Azerbaijani lands and
to achieve repatriation of refugees and internally displaced people.

"Unfortunately, hopes for 2009 did not justify themselves to the
extent which we expected. The joint declaration of the presidents of
Azerbaijan, Russia and Armenia was a very significant event, and it
became the first after the signing of a ceasefire agreement in 1994.

There were hopes to solve the dispute in 2009, even to solve the basic
principles. However, they did not justify themselves, and not by our
guilt," the Azerbaijani president said.

President Aliyev said there is certain optimistic mood for 2010,
because the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has become one of the central
issues in the international agenda.

"It became clear to many – those who did not understand it perfectly –
it will be impossible to solve any regional problem without regulating
the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. We believe we will succeed to
coordinate major positions in 2010, but we are strongly against making
permanent the negotiation process," the president underscored.

According to Ilham Aliyev, talks to solve the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute
have been held since 1992, when the OSCE Minsk Group was established.

"A ceasefire agreement was concluded in 1994. Although 15 years
have past, still there is no result. Therefore, we cannot allow the
process to become frozen namely in the literary meaning of this word,"
Aliyev stated.