"AZERBAIJAN STILL BELIEVES THAT ARMENIAN LEADERSHIP WILL FINALLY GIVE UP ITS IRRATIONAL AND NON-CONSTRUCTIVE POLICY"
Today
ics/68383.html
May 21 2010
Azerbaijan
Head of the department for political analysis and information at
the Azerbaijani President’s Administration, Elnur Aslanov, has
shared his thoughts about the Moscow-hosted conference on the theme
"Socio-economic development of Southern Caucasian countries: problems
and prospects" with AzerTAc’s Russian capital-based correspondent.
"The essence of the conference is that Azerbaijani, Russian and Kazakh
political analysts have come together to discuss a wide spectrum of
problems, in particular socio-economic prospects and future development
format of the Southern Caucasian region."
Aslanov said: "As we know, one of the major barriers to ensuring
stable and effective development of South Caucasus is the fact that
certain groups, in particular, the countries which support them,
try to impede this development. I mean Armenia, which has taken a
non-constructive position and has been pursuing an irrational policy
in the region, trying to destabilize the situation and hindering the
establishment of peace and stability here. This conference is aimed at
discovering major factors creating barriers to effective development
of the Southern Caucasian region. We`ve discussed not only problems,
but also factors for prospective development of the region."
Aslanov touched upon Azerbaijan`s economic progress, calling the
country "a recognized economic leader in the region".
"As members of the Azerbaijani delegation – which included
parliamentarians, independent political analysts and representatives
of the center for strategic studies – Azerbaijan is today the region`s
leading integrator of economic processes and large-scaled projects.
Given this aspect, Azerbaijan is trying – by different means – to
set a dialogue with Armenia and promote the establishment of peace
in the region."
"We`ve repeatedly expressed our readiness for dialogue and declared,
on all levels, that our country is ready to continue peace talks till
the end. But, naturally, each process has its limit, including that
of patience. What we currently have on the negotiation table is the
Madrid principles, which Azerbaijan accepts with several reservations.
And Armenia, unfortunately, has not yet given its response regarding
the issue. But Azerbaijan still believes that the Armenian leadership
will finally give up its irrational and non-constructive policy and
begin to play a more active role in establishing peace and stability
in the region."
"Today Azerbaijan is ready to offer the de jure citizens, who live in
the Nagorno-Karabakh, all the economic and social preferences, which
residents of Azerbaijan`s other adjacent cities enjoy. The experience
of other states shows that coexisting is much more profitable –
both politically and economically – rather than seeking to live in
isolation, having neither your daily bread nor real prospects, and
living with just illusions of the so-called independence."
Commenting on whether Azerbaijan`s just position is accepted by
the expert community, Aslanov said that sometimes it is difficult
"as together with us other sides also declare their position".
"However the major goal of such conferences is making Azerbaijan`s
position on different issues – in particular the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict and also the country`s domestic and foreign policy priorities
– known to the Russian expert community. We, surely, believe that we
will be a success in this, and we don`t stop on what we’ve already
achieved. Such meetings will be continued and they will serve only
to strengthen relations between Azerbaijan and Russia, in particular,
between the expert communities of our countries," said Aslanov.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress