POLITICS
PRESIDENT: AZERBAIJAN MUST AND WILL RESTORE ITS TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY
Baku, July 7 (AZERTAC). President Ilham Aliyev has reiterated Azerbaijan`s position on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, saying the country “must and will” restore its territorial integrity.
“Our territorial integrity has never been in doubt during the talks,” the President told representatives of the Nagorno-Karabakh`s Azerbaijani community.
The Azerbaijani leader said: “New principles - based on the Madrid principles – which we have today, create conditions for Azerbaijan to restore its territorial integrity. This is why Azerbaijan is part of these talks, this is why we are showing constructiveness. We`ve always tried, and we`ve achieved this, to guarantee that Azerbaijan`s territorial integrity is taken into account. And this is what the conflict`s resolution must be based on.”
“The co-chairs have expressed their position more clearly now. One of the important issues is that the conflict must be solved on the basis of the Helsinki principles. And the major principal here is territorial integrity.”
President Ilham Aliyev highlighted the updated principles put forward by the OSCE Minsk group co-chairs, saying his country accepted it “but with several reservations”.
“First of all, the aggressor must withdraw from all occupied lands around the Nagorno-Karabakh. Five regions must be liberated immediately, while Kalbajar and Lachin in a certain period of time. What is proposed is five years, and the reason is that Kalbajar and Lachin regions are located between the Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia, which means that tougher security measures are required to return the Azerbaijanis to those regions.”
The President noted: “All regions must be brought back under Azerbaijan`s control, and a road, corridor must be created to link Armenia with the Nagorno-Karabakh. And Azerbaijan has accepted these proposals.”