Azerbaijan hails Karabakh talks

Interfax
Dec 8 2004

Baku. (Interfax-Azerbaijan) – The way negotiations on settling the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict are being handled meets the interests of
Azerbaijan, President Ilham Aliyev told a Cabinet session on Tuesday.

“Steps have been taken to put an end to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
that I think have had a positive effect on the negotiating process.
The ways the talks are proceeding meets our interests. The fair
position of Azerbaijan has started to enjoy broader support among
international organizations. As a result, positive trends at the
negotiations have increased,” Aliyev said.

“Azerbaijan, which suffered from the conflict, is waging a “Cold War,”
if I can put it this way. And I would like to say that we have been
successful. Our propaganda campaign in international organizations and
at the bilateral level has intensified. I am confident that all this
will allow us to meet our objectives. It means that international legal
norms should be applied, all occupation troops should be withdrawn
from our territories, and the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan
should be restored,” the president said.

“2004 has seen majors moves to enhance the army’s capabilities. Army
spending from the state budget will go up 30% next year. This
figure may later be increased by 50%, 100% or 200%, should it prove
necessary. Azerbaijan’s economic capabilities make this increase
possible, and Armenia, which occupied our territories, cannot compete
with us. Armenia’s budget totals $500 million today, while Azerbaijan
spends $250 million on its army,” Aliyev said.