Azernews.Az

President Ilham Aliyev has said Azerbaijan is capable of liberating its occupied territories from Armenian occupation but does not want war to erupt.
"Our economic and military power allows us today to solve the problem by military means. But we don’t want war. We don’t want any more victims. We want the issue to be solved peacefully, through negotiations. But, at the same time, the Azerbaijani army and society must be ready any moment to free our land from the invaders by any given means," President Aliyev told the opening of a new residential building for the Garabagh war disabled, war victim families and World War II veterans on Thursday in Khirdalan, 10 km away from the capital Baku.
Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a cease-fire in 1994, but Armenia continues to occupy Upper Garabagh and seven other Azerbaijani districts in defiance of international law. Peace talks have accomplished little so far. Baku says the occupied districts must be freed and Azerbaijani refugees displaced during the armed conflict in the early 1990s returned home. Azerbaijan has not ruled out military action to liberate its land and has spent billions on dollars on building up its military.
According to the president, Azerbaijan is making every effort to achieve a Garabagh settlement and is seeking a speedy solution complying with international law. He affirmed Azerbaijan’s intransigent stance, saying the country’s territorial integrity must be restored; the Armenian occupying forces must be pulled out of all Azerbaijani territories; and the displaced Azerbaijanis must return home.
"These are the core principles for solving the issue. Azerbaijan will not back away a single step from this position of principle. Having mobilized all our potential, we will be trying to settle the conflict swiftly and fairly and in line with Azerbaijan’s interests and international norms."
President Aliyev expressed disappointment that 2009 was not a cruical year for settling the long-standing conflict. "Great hopes were pinned on 2009 for a solution of the Garabagh problem. But we have not been able to accomplish result due to Armenia’s non-constructive position."
Aliyev stressed that all sides dealing with the Garabagh problem presently support settling it in accord with the territorial integrity of states. "It is for this reason that Armenia had to co-sign a political document envisioning a solution within Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity at the December 2 meeting of the OSCE Foreign Ministers Council in Athens."
The president said Azerbaijan should be strong to achieve a solution.
"Azerbaijan is currently a leader in the South Caucasus region on all indicators. This is common knowledge to both us and the entire international community. At a time the whole region is experiencing an economic recession, Azerbaijan’s economy stays the course on growth. Infrastructure projects, the solution of social issues, urban amenities, army-building – Azerbaijan surpasses Armenia in all areas many-fold."
Aliyev added that the divide between the two countries in economics and all other fields is increasingly expanding and deepening.*