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Azerbaijan President speaks of some details of Nagorno Karabakh conflict

06 July 2009 16:25 (UTC +04:00)

According to the president, in the course of negotiations on the settlement of Nagorno Karabakh Conflict, a consent has been essentially reached to begin the withdrawal of Armenian occupying forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, and international safeguard must be provided to the citizens living in Nagorno Karabakh now, and to those who are Azerbaijani by origin and will return to their homeland â€“ the occupied territories including Nagorno Karabakh.

â€œWe believe that the political safeguards in this case are much greater than any military or any peacekeeping guarantee. The point is that we understand the concerns of those living in Nagorno-Karabakh that after the return of all seven occupied regions of Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh will again be cut off geographically from Armenia because Nagorno Karabakh never has had link with Armenia. We understand the concerns of those who live there and we are willing to consider in a spirit of constructive approach and international standards the overland link that should be reliable, so as not to cause concern. With regard to the status of Nagorno-Karabakh, this work belongs to tomorrow. And the proposals which we are discussing today and which we accept and agree on, donâ€™t include the question of status. If this is brought up again as precondition for coordination of positions, we will not achieve anything. Therefore, there is a need to understand what life will show. We certainly do not see any possibility of the existence of the Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent state. And Azerbaijan will not agree to this any time. We think that the Armenian side is also ware of this. At the same time, the Armenian side also says that the level of self-rule which exists in the Nagorno-Karabakh should be maintained. In Soviet times there was the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (province). The Oblastâ€™s leadership, the provincial bureau, included only one Azerbaijani, the rest were Armenians. And that Azerbaijani was the head of Azerbaijani town of Shusha, 90 per cent of which population were Azerbaijanis. And we shouldnâ€™t go far away today when looking at the future of this territory. â€¦ We can not for ever live in a state of war, and we do not want war, despite the fact that we are building up our military capabilities. But this is due to the fact that for 15 years now after the cease-fire we still fail to reach a solution. That is what our approach is. I think that if the Armenian side will show the political will to take the steps it should take, that is, withdraw from all occupied territories, and after the Azerbaijanis return to Shusha and Nagorno-Karabakh, we will naturally discuss the question of the status in the future. Of course, Nagorno Karabakh should have certain status. We understand this. But, we do not see this status outside the sovereign Azerbaijani State. I think that the process of negotiations could be more constructive after the liberation of the occupied territoriesâ€¦
The question is the phased withdrawal of Armenian forces from occupied territories outside Nagorno-Karabakh. That is the first stage; immediately after the signing of agreements, troops are slated to be withdrawn from the five regions.

Itâ€™s intended to ensure the withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from Kalbajar and Lachin regions located between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh five years after the agreement takes effect given those regionsâ€™ geographical conditions. We think this is a compromise period and probably more security measures should be taken in that zone to make sure that no one has doubt about the peaceful nature of the both sides.
However, withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from all 7 adjacent regions at the same time is not connected with any other factors at all and this point is accurately reflected in the Minsk Groupâ€™s proposals. Touching upon the status issue of Nagorno-Karabakh, the President said temporary status mechanism might be agreed in the first stage, but the issue of resolute status would be solved after the agreement between the sides. For this, it may take a year, maybe ten years, maybe one hundred years or it will never be possible. The time will show itâ€.