Azernews.Az

Azerbaijan supports a negotiated settlement to the Georgian-Russian armed conflict since a peaceful solution is in the interest of all regional states, a Foreign Ministry spokesman told a press conference Monday.
At the same time, Khazar Ibrahim reiterated that Baku supports Georgia`s territorial integrity.
"We have expressed this position on different levels. Azerbaijan`s stance after the extraordinary UN Security Council session is for the conflict to be resolved in peace and for international organizations to make their contribution to its settlement."
Ibrahim said international groups` efforts should result in actually resolving the conflict, as opposed to only being confined to making statements.
Hostilities erupted in Georgia`s unrecognized republic of South Ossetia on Friday. Russian troops entered the region and pounded Georgian positions after Georgian forces bombarded the capital of the breakaway province, Tskhinvali, in what Tbilisi termed as a restoration of its constitutional order.
The spokesman said no steps had been taken, so far, to provide Georgia with humanitarian aid. No discussions are under way on providing assistance within the regional group, GUAM, either.
The diplomat said he saw "nothing odd" about the fact that the warplanes bombing Georgia are taking off from Armenian territory, as Armenia is "one of the most active states in terms of violating international law."
"This should, therefore, not disappoint anyone," Ibrahim said.
Armenia has occupied over 20% of Azerbaijan`s internationally recognized territory since the early 1990s.
The Azeri government continues to ensure the security of Azeris living in Georgia through its embassy in the neighboring country. Ibrahim said everything possible was being done to prevent Azeris from being harmed.
"So far, there have been no cases of our countrymen`s mass exodus from Georgia as refugees."
Meanwhile, numerous foreign nationals gathered at the Azeri-Georgian border seeking to return to their home countries through Azerbaijan. The Azeri government is providing all needed assistance to them, Ibrahim said, but made it clear that this was a challenging task.
"We are talking about hundreds of people. They are expatriates and representatives of international organizations working in Georgia. These persons need help because there are a lot of them. This being said, there is not enough time or ways to do all the necessary important work. Therefore, simplified [travel] regulations are being applied for these people, in accord with Azerbaijan`s laws."

`False reports`
A senior Azerbaijani military official has rebuffed reports saying a facility near the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, had been bombed by a plane "that came from the Azerbaijani side".
Georgian media claimed that the plane had attacked a radar control center in the Makhata mountain, several kilometers from the center of Tbilisi.
Lieutenant General Najmaddin Sadigov, Armed Forces Chief-of-Staff, made it clear that Azerbaijan`s air space has not been violated by any country since the armed conflict between Georgia and Russia broke out.
"We have not, and will never, allow the violation of our air space or its use against neighboring states," Sadigov said.