Azerbaijan committed to Karabakh issue peaceful settlement-Aliyev

LONDON, July 14 (Itar-Tass) - In the process of the conflict
settlement between Armenia and Azerbaijan "more encouraging dynamics" has
formed, there are the first results, but they are insufficient so far for
the achievement of the specific goal - establishment of the final peace,
Azerbaijani President Ilkham Aliyev who is on a visit in London, said.
On Monday he spoke at the famous Royal Institute of International
Affairs also known as Chatham House.
"For the past 15 years we have been living in the conditions in which
we have neither war nor peace," the president noted. He stressed that any
settlement of the conflict around Nagorno-Karabakh should include the
preservation of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity. "We understand Armenia'
s concern and are ready to consider corresponding issues. We are also
ready to provide the needed autonomy level to Nagorno-Karabakh, but only
within the framework of the united Azerbaijani state," Aliyev emphasised.
The Azerbaijani president also noted that the sides involved in the
conflict should clearly realise that there can be not talk about
independence of Nagorno-Karabakh, because this contradicts the principles
of international law and already adopted on Nagorno-Karabakh resolutions
of the leading international organisations, including the UN Security
Council.
"Azerbaijan is committed to the peaceful settlement of the conflict,
the past 15 years have proved in reality our clear-cut position," Aliyev
stressed. The Azerbaijani president also noted, "Unfortunately, I cannot
totally rule out a military solution, as we have the total and based on
international laws right to restore our territorial integrity that not a
single country questions." "Today Azerbaijan has powerful and modern armed
forces that are capable of restoring the country's territorial integrity,"
Aliyev stated adding that Baku "intends to continue to seek the conflict
settlement by peaceful methods."
According to Chatham House's press release, Azerbaijan's extraordinary
geographical location fuels its foreign policy ambitions. Russia and Iran
to the north and south respectively are neighbours. To the West lies
Armenia where the conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh poses greater danger
even that Georgia's nearby breakaway regions of South Ossetia and
Abkhazia. And to the East lies the Caspian Sea. Azerbaijan, the first
country to extract oil from the ground for industrial use, has made
hydrocarbon exports the mainstay of its economy and a driving force of its
multi-vectored foreign policy.
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