POLITICS
President Ilham Aliyev: The fact that separatism is raising its head in Europe is a signal to the international community

Baku, January 11, AZERTAC
“The settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is possible only within the framework of the territorial integrity of our country. There is no other option,” President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has told a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers.
“Our principled position is fair, is based on international law and has received tremendous international support. There have been several important events that reflect this. One of them is the fact that the world community did not recognize the illegal "referendum" held by the separatist regime in Nagorno-Karabakh. The neighboring and European countries, the European Union, international organizations have made unequivocal and serious statements that they do not recognize the "referendum". These statements show yet again that the whole world considers Nagorno-Karabakh an integral part of Azerbaijan, and this support is gradually growing.”
The head of state said: “As you know, in a Declaration adopted by the "Eastern Partnership" summit of the European Union at the end of the year, the European Union unequivocally supported the territorial integrity and the sovereignty of the member-countries of the Eastern Partnership. This was another blow to aggressive Armenia. This is a manifestation of justice and, at the same time, a demonstration that European institutions and global centers today demonstrate a more positive approach both in relation to the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and in relation to the processes taking place in the world as a whole. The truth is that Europe itself is suffering from separatism and sees what separatism is today. We are faced with aggressive separatism. An act of genocide was committed against us. Our citizens were driven out of their native lands by force of arms.”
“Of course, the fact that separatism is raising its head in the world, including Europe, is a signal to the international community that only one approach should be applied. We have always talked about this. I have repeatedly said that a single approach should be applied to all conflicts and to all manifestations of separatism. There should be no room for double standards. They must be rejected. We are already seeing that. I believe that these are important events for the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Azerbaijan will not depart from its position of principle. The restoration of the territorial integrity of our country is the main issue for us,” the President added.