Azernews.Az

BAKU – President Ilham Aliyev has said Azerbaijan’s unresolved conflict with Armenia over Nagorno Karabakh requires the creation of new research works on the history of the country and the whole region.

Addressing the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences annual meeting on Tuesday, President Aliyev stressed the importance of increasing the number of scientific works confirming that Nagorno Karabakh is an indigenous and ancient region of Azerbaijan.

Nagorno Karabakh has been occupied by Armenian armed forces since a 1994 cease-fire ended a war that killed an estimated 30,000 people and ousted up to one million Azerbaijanis from their homes. Years of OSCE-brokered peace talks have brought few tangible results.

Aliyev said it was crucial to link scientific research with the government’s economic policy. He said the development of science has to comply with the country’s overall development.

The president also cited the need for establishing cooperation among the fields of science, education and economics, which requires "priorities to be properly outlined and worked on".

Aliyev said the resource-rich South Caucasus republic’s turning into "the main factor" in ensuring European energy security has been achieved owing to the scientific discoveries of the country’s geologists.

He termed Azerbaijan’s rampant economic growth as "a phenomenon in the world", adding that this success builds on the country’s priorities in the development of science.

Aliyev said important work was underway to ensure Azerbaijan’s food safety, pointing to the importance of taking urgent measures to establish a department of agriculture at the academy of sciences.

On the development of Azerbaijan’s defense industry, he said the country is producing 430 types of military goods, and their number will increase in the future.