Ilham Aliyev: Azerbaijan will restore its territorial integrity at any cost

Ilham Aliyev: Azerbaijan will restore its territorial integrity at any cost
# 14 November 2017 14:32 (UTC +04:00)

Azerbaijan will restore its territorial integrity at any cost, President Ilham Aliyev said on Tuesday.

Azerbaijan’s principled stance on the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will remain unchanged, Ilham Aliyev said at a solemn ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of the founding of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party, APA reported.

“The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict must be restored within the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. There is no other way,” the president said stressing that Azerbaijan will never allow a second Armenian state to be created on its historical lands.

The head of state noted that the norms of international law must be fully observed, the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council must be implemented, and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan must be restored.

“This is a principled position that is based on history and international law, because Nagorno-Karabakh is a historical land of Azerbaijan. The whole world recognizes and respects the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. Nagorno-Karabakh is an integral part of Azerbaijan,” said Ilham Aliyev.

“This year there was an event, which once again confirmed this. Again, an illegal referendum held in Nagorno-Karabakh was not recognized by the international community. Neighboring countries, the Minsk Group member countries, the European Union and other international organizations did not recognize the results of the referendum. Thus, they once again confirmed that Nagorno-Karabakh is an integral part of Azerbaijan,” he added.

The president noted that consistent efforts aimed at achieving the recognition of the Khojaly genocide worldwide will further continue.

“Five years ago, at the 20th anniversary of the establishment of our party [YAP], I mentioned that three countries have already officially recognized the Khojaly genocide. In just five years, the number of such countries has exceeded 10. Therefore, a consistent policy will be pursued in this direction as well,” he said.

In parallel, Azerbaijan’s military strength will be increased as well, added President Aliyev.

“We have managed to achieve this to a large extent. According to international ratings, today the Azerbaijani army is among the world’s most powerful armies. If needed, our army will be further supplied with enough funds and equipment without any restrictions,” the president said. “Our military power played and will play its part in the liberation of our lands and restoration of our territorial integrity.”

“The April battles and the liberation of part of our occupied lands, in particular, parts of the Aghdere, Fuzuli and Jabrayil districts demonstrated the power of our army to the whole world,” he stressed.

The head of state went on to say that Armenia does not give up attempts to convey to the international community distorted information about the April battles, however, such attempts are extremely ridiculous.

“Suffice it to say that today we have occupied the trenches which at one time they dug in the occupied lands, and from those trenches we are controlling a large territory. The April battles are our glorious military victory which demonstrated the strength of the Azerbaijani people and soldiers. It showed that the Azerbaijani state and people will never reconcile with the occupation, and restore its territorial integrity at any cost,” concluded President Aliyev.

Nagorno Garabagh

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