Azerbaijan keen on returning its occupied land: senior official (UPDATE)
By Sara Rajabova
Azerbaijan is decisive on returning its territories occupied by Armenia and repatriating its refugees, a senior Azerbaijani official said in an interview with the Turkish news agency Anadolu.
"Azerbaijan will further demonstrate a decisive standpoint to liberate its lands and repatriate Azerbaijani refugees, who are forced to live in tents," the head of the Presidential Administration's social and political affairs department, Ali Hasanov, said, noting that if the situation doesn't change, other means will be employed.
The top official underscored that it is necessary to put pressure on Armenia to achieve a peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Hasanov pointed out that Azerbaijan is strengthening its military and economy.
He also stressed Turkey's role in the promotion of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in the world arena, and expressed confidence that Turkey, as it promised, will not open its border with Armenia until the conflict is resolved.
"The relations between Azerbaijan and Turkey are currently more important than they were ten years ago. Today, Azerbaijan is not behind Turkey, but stands by its side," Hasanov said, adding that over the past five years Azerbaijan has invested $30 billion in projects in Turkey.
Hasanov also criticized the presidential elections in Armenia held on February 18.
"The Armenian president achieved victory not at the elections, but over his people," he said.
Meanwhile, the tense situation on the contact line between the Armenian and Azerbaijani troops aggravated.
Azerbaijani Defense Ministry spokesman, Colonel Eldar Sabiroglu said the cause of what is happening on the contact line is Armenia's failing to withdraw from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.
"Armenia violates the ceasefire throughout the contact line. Azerbaijani armed forces are giving them a due rebuff. Unfortunately, violation of the ceasefire on the contact line leads to casualties and injuries on both sides. That is inevitable," Sabiroglu said.
Sabiroglu noted that Armenia must free the territories that it occupied over 20 years ago.
"The day will come when the Armenian army stationed in Nagorno-Karabakh will be driven out," Sabiroglu said. "The armed forces of Azerbaijan possess sufficient strength to protect the state and its people."
Regarding the opening of an airport in the occupied territories, Sabiroglu said that if Armenia carried out unauthorized flights over the territory of Azerbaijan, all the necessary measures would be taken.
"Armenia should abandon its aggressive position. In accordance with the Chicago Convention, one country may not illegally cross the borders of another. All the necessary measures will be taken in the case of illegal border crossing," Sabiroglu said.
According to Sabiroglu, the attempt to conduct unauthorized flights will create major obstacles for a peaceful settlement of the conflict.
The official emphasized that if Armenia does not adjust its actions and attempts to conduct unauthorized flights, Azerbaijan will retain its position and these illegal flights will aggravate Armenia's position in the region.
"Therefore, it would be better if they refrain from those intentions. International organizations and parliamentarians of other countries have also negatively commented on this issue," Sabiroglu said.
Earlier, Armenian media reported on the intended commissioning of the Khojaly airport in Nagorno-Karabakh, an Azerbaijani region occupied by Armenian armed forces, in the near future.
The commissioning of the airport is an open violation of the Convention on International Civil Aviation adopted on December 7, 1944 in Chicago, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said earlier.
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the European Civil Aviation Conference (ICAC) support the position of Azerbaijan on this issue. Document No.121 on airports of the ICAO cited the Khojaly airport as property of Azerbaijan.
International flights from the Khojaly airport, constructed in 1978, were prohibited after the occupation of territories by Armenia. The Khojaly airport, which has been registered in international organizations with the name UB13, is a facility with military purposes.
Since the brutal war that concluded with the signing of a fragile cease-fire in 1994, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. Peace talks, brokered by Russia, France and the U.S., the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, have been mostly fruitless so far.