APA, Azerbaijan
April 9 2010

Ilham Aliyev: `Another Armenian state cannot be established in
Azerbaijani lands’

[ 09 Apr 2010 18:25 ]
Baku – APA. Armenians have already established their state in the
territory of Azerbaijan and another Armenian state cannot be
established in our lands, said Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev in
his speech at the Foreign Ministry of Estonia in Tallinn on April 7.

The President said Azerbaijan would never agree with that and it would
never happen. `The sooner Armenian side understands this, the better
it will be for them and for us. So, in this way the problem can be
solved, and then the peace can be established in the Caucasus.
Otherwise, no initiative and political project can be realized in the
region without the settlement of the Armenian – Azerbaijani conflict
over Nagorno Karabakh. They live in the United States, France and
Russia. What will happen if they get an idea of self-determination in
those places? How will those countries react? Armenians have already
got their self-determination within the state of Armenia despite the
fact that this state was established in the historic lands of
Azerbaijan. It is known to all. Following the declaration of its
independence in 1918, the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan made a
decision to cede the city of Iravan to Armenia for making its capital.
Iravan was the city of Iravan Khanate where Azerbaijani people lived.
All the attempts which are being made to take away the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict from the context of overall development or
establishment of new relations in the region are in vain. That will
not happen because it is the main problem, and the main obstacle
should be removed first. Azerbaijan has the full right to restore its
territorial integrity ".

According to the head of state, the occupation of lands has not only
created problem for Azerbaijan, but also threatened the regional
stability and prediction.

`Twenty percent of Azerbaijan’s internationally-recognized territory
has already been under the occupation of the Armenian armed forces for
20 years. They committed an ethnic cleansing policy against the
Azerbaijanis. They committed genocide in Khojaly. More than 600
citizens, including women and children were killed by the Armenian war
criminals in that event. Unfortunately, the war criminals have not
been held accountable for this yet.

But I am hopeful that the time will come when they will be prosecuted
for their actions. As a result of ethnic cleansing policy,
Azerbaijanis living not only in Nagorno Karabakh, but also in adjacent
areas, totally more than 750 000 people were expelled from those
territories and their homes were razed to the ground. All the historic
monuments, mosques and cemeteries were destroyed in those places. This
is the consequences of aggression by Armenia.

The consequences of this aggression have not been eliminated yet. For
twenty years now, we have been in the process of negotiations.
However, no result is there. Despite the adoption of four resolutions
by the UN Security Council in the early 1990s demanding the immediate
and unconditional withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from the
occupied lands, the Armenian armed forces are still holding our
territories under occupation. What does this mean? This means that the
norms of international law don’t work. This means that the resolutions
by the UN Security Council, the institution which makes international
decisions at the highest level, are not implemented. And the aggressor
who violates these international norms and defies the resolutions is
not punished. Unfortunately, sometimes we not only see the aggressor
unpunished, but also encouraged by various preferential agreements,
financial support and other means. "

Speaking about the history of occupation of the Azerbaijani
territories by the Armenian forces, the President said this process
has been ongoing for 20 years. `This must end. Their troops must be
withdrawn from the internationally-recognized territories of
Azerbaijan. Those who are currently living in Nagorno-Karabakh and the
Azerbaijanis, who definitely will return there to live together on the
basis of security guarantees within the sovereign state of Azerbaijan,
with the highest status of autonomy that exists today in the world.
This position is fully consistent with the norms of international law.
At the same time, the activity of mediators and indeed the proposals
they have made to both sides reflect this position. The violation of
territorial integrity of Azerbaijan should end. The independence of
Nagorno-Karabakh is not even a subject of discussion. There is no
mechanism of that independence on the proposals of mediators.

In many cases, the Armenians refer to the principle of
self-determination. Of course, this is an important principle of
international law. However, the Armenians have already exercised their
right to self-determination and they have an independent Armenian
state. If you follow this logic, it turns out that the Armenians will
use self-determination in any place where they live? How many Armenian
states will be established then? They live in many places,
particularly in countries which are represented in the Minsk Group,
which is responsible for resolving conflict’.

The President expressed hope that practical results of the mediators’
activity will appear in the near future.
`Because it is also unacceptable for the co-chairing countries, which
are leading countries of the world and permanent members of the
Security Council, to conduct unfruitful negotiations for 20 years.
Armenia’s turn has come ` do they accept the last proposal by the
mediators or not? If they don’t accept the proposal, I think that the
process of negotiations should be reviewed again and a new stage has
to begin.
Well, I don’t want to take your time so much. I would like to note
once again that I am satisfied with the level of relations between our
countries. I think it is suitable time to define new spheres where we
can have successful cooperation. We have strong mutual will and
potential for that. As I noted in the meeting with the President of
Estonia today, our economies are not rival but in contrary, we can
support each other and our economies can complement each other. I
consider that we can establish very strong partnership between our
countries based on such political basis and great historic heritage of
relations between our peoples and mutual respect. These relations will
be good for cooperation between our countries, for the regional
cooperation and cooperation between the European Union and Azerbaijan
and will make the situation more predictable and stable’.