Azernews.Az

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has issued a strongly-worded message to Armenians, saying the establishment of "a new Armenian state" in Azerbaijan’s territory was out of the question.
"Armenians have already created their own state in Azerbaijani territory. Another Armenian state cannot be established in our land," President Aliyev said while addressing the Estonian Foreign Ministry in Tallinn on Wednesday.
The president said Armenians often refer to the principle of the self-determination of nations regarding the Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict, noting that they have already exercised this right while establishing the Armenian state.
"If we go by this logic, it turns out that the Armenians will determine their fate in any place they live in?! Then, how many Armenian states would emerge?!... They live in many places and particularly in the countries co-chairing the [OSCE] Minsk Group, which is responsible for the conflict settlement. They live in America, France and Russia [the MG co-chairs]. If they pondered determining their fate there, what would happen, what would be the reaction of those countries?"
Aliyev emphasized that the Armenian state was established in the Azerbaijani territories in the past.
"They possess an Armenian state, though this state was created in the historical Azerbaijani lands. This is clear to everyone. A day after Azerbaijan announced its independence in 1918, the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic passed a decision to grant the city of Irevan [Yerevan] to Armenia as a capital. Irevan was a city inside the Irevan Khanate populated by Azerbaijanis."
The president affirmed Baku’s intransigent stance, saying Upper Garabagh’s independence is not even a subject of discussion. The mediators’ proposals do not contain any mechanism for granting the region an independent status either.
Aliyev stressed that Azerbaijan will never agree with the violation of its territorial integrity. "The sooner the Armenian side realizes this, the better it is both for them and us. This way, the problem will be resolved swiftly. Then, peace can be established in the Caucasus. Because without a solution of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Upper Garabagh conflict, any other initiative or a project of political content in the region is unfeasible."
Aliyev unequivocally stated that the Armenia-occupied territories of Azerbaijan must be freed.
"Despite the fact that the UN Security Council passed four resolutions demanding an immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from occupied territory back in the early 1990s, the Armenian armed forces are still sticking to occupation. And what does this mean? This means that the norms of international law are not working. This means that the resolutions of the body adopting the top-level international decisions, i.e., the UN SC, are not being enforced. And the invader, who is violating those international norms and ignoring the resolutions, remains unpunished. Unfortunately, at times we witness not only a failure to punish the aggressor but even its encouragement by various concessional accords, financial aid and other means."
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 adjacent Azerbaijani districts in defiance of international law. Though the separatist regime in Upper Garabagh declared so-called independence at the time of the Soviet collapse in 1991, this "independence", which blatantly tramples on international law, has not been recognized by the world community.*