Foreign

Home page

Foreign

President of Azerbaijan: â€œArmenians used their right of self-determination when they established the state of Armeniaâ€

14 May 2009 16:53 (UTC +04:00)

Regarding the negotiations, I valued it as a process going in positive direction, the progress was achieved in some issues of the agreement, but it was not possible several years ago. But this progress is not enough for the settlement of the conflict or achieving the agreementâ€, said President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev in his meeting with the members of the US Council on Foreign Relations answering their question about the current situation of the negotiations over the peaceful settlement of Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorny Karabakh conflict.

The president said 17 years have passed since the establishing of OSCE Minsk Group, but there is no result yet. â€œThe situation remains as it was earlier. Our lands are under the occupation. Seven regions outside the administrative borders of Nagorny Karabakh were occupied by the Armenians. Nearly one million Azerbaijanis became refugees and internally displaced persons as a result of ethnic cleansing policy of Armenia and this situation continues to remain that.

Regarding the settlement of the conflict, it must be resolved on the strong basis of the norms of international law. The conflict must be resolved only and only on the basis of the norms of international law. UN Security Council adopted four resolutions demanding unconditional withdrawal of Armenian forces from the occupied lands. The international community recognized the fact of occupation of our lands. The territorial integrity of Azerbaijan was internationally recognized and supported. The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs made several statements on the protection of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. When Azerbaijan became the member of the United Nations, this organization recognized its territorial integrity.

I want to say about the right of self-determination, which Armenia intends to use as an argument, that Armenians already used this right when they established the state of Armenia. If it is based on their logic, many Armenian states should be established all over the world.

This is a wrong approach. We have always drawn Armeniaâ€™s attention to the Helsinki Final Act in the talks. This final act obviously reflects the items of on inviolability of territorial integrity and self-determination rights: self-determination cannot violate the principles of internationally-recognized territorial integrity of any state. Therefore, the conflict must be regulated on the basis of the international legal norms and it will allow the restoration of our territorial integrity and make Armenians and Azerbaijanis live in peace in Nagorny Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.