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Elkhan Nuriyev: â€œAzerbaijan does not hide its military power and it will continue policy of further strengthening of its defense potentialâ€

20 May 2010 18:23 (UTC +04:00)

Moscow. Roman Agayev â€“ APA. â€œDuty of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs is to convince the Armenian side of accepting the updated Madrid principles in order to start the discussions over the existing issues on Nagorno Karabakh conflict. Azerbaijan has always demonstrated constructive position and it has committed to the pragmatic position. And it is the position of Azerbaijanâ€™s leadership regarding the Nagorno Karabakh conflictâ€, said Director of the Strategic Research Center (SRC) under Presidential Administration of Azerbaijan Elkhan Nuriyev at the press conference in Moscow, APAâ€™s correspondent in Moscow reports.

Touching upon the perspectives of Armenia â€“ Turkey relations, Nuriyev noted that unlike the European Union, Turkey has principal and pragmatic position on opening of Turkey â€“ Armenia borders and withdrawal of protocols from the Armenian parliament shows that the policy carried on by Yerevan overturned: â€œNevertheless, Turkeyâ€™s role in the Caucasus region increased and its strategic alliance with Azerbaijan further strengthened. Moreover, positive tendencies are also observed in Russia Turkey relations. Armenian side must seriously think of thatâ€.

According to him, Azerbaijan is committed to peaceful solution of the conflict. â€œYes, we do not hide our military power and we will continue policy of further strengthening of our defense potential and military â€“ industry complex in order to liberate our occupied territories from the Armenian occupation in case of necessity. One may talk about the opening of borders and restoration of communications only after the withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from the occupied territories and return of IDPs to their homelandâ€.

Nuriyev also stated that the issue of territorial integrity of Azerbaijan can never be a subject of discussion. OSCE Ministerial Council in Athens passed special resolution on Nagorno Karabakh conflict. Entire world has recognized the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.