Wed 18 November 2009 | 06:19 GMT Text size:

Ilham Aliyev

Azerbaijan is hopeful of success in talks to resolve the Karabakh conflict, although Armenia is using delaying tactics, President Ilham Aliyev has said.

He was speaking at the official opening on Tuesday of a nine-storey residential building in Baku's Binaqadi District. The building will house 369 families displaced from their homes by the Armenian occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh and its surrounding districts.

"I am sure that we will attain our desired goal but I want it to happen as soon as possible," the president said. "I have worked and will continue working in this regard."

He said Azerbaijan adheres to the policy of settling the conflict through negotiations.

"We will continue our pressure on Armenia in political, economic and all other forms and we should do our utmost to attain our desired goal. We want to restore justice," Aliyev said.

The president said that Azerbaijan has no territorial claims on other countries though present-day Armenia was established on ancient Azerbaijani land, in particular the Irevan khanate and Zangezur.

Addressing the internally displaced people, Aliyev said that they would live temporarily in the new houses and once the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh is settled they will be able to return to their native homes which will be rebuilt.

"Once the Azerbaijani lands are liberated, we will build new houses, new cities and create new infrastructure on these lands," the president said. He also said that the authorities pay considerable attention to the problems of refugees and IDPs and have assigned $2bn to improve their living conditions.

The president said that Armenia is fully dependent on foreign financial assistance, as its economy continues to weaken, while the economic situation in Azerbaijan is improving and “this gap will grow further” with the passage of time. At the same time, Aliyev said, the Azerbaijani authorities pay considerable attention to strengthening military potential.

"We are in a negotiating process, but we should be ready to liberate our lands by force at any time," the head of state said. He described Armenia's continuing aggression against Azerbaijan as “an unbearable situation” and “the greatest injustice and crude violation of human rights”.

"Yet the world community is indifferent to this. Though international organizations have adopted the relevant resolutions, they are not executed. In such conditions, these resolutions are senseless. Unfortunately, the norms of international law are crudely violated in the world and, as a result, Azerbaijani lands remain occupied for many years," the president said.

"We try to settle the issue peacefully, as we do not want war. But negotiations are ineffective," he said. Seven to eight rounds of negotiations on resolution of the conflict are held every year but with no special result.

"There is progress but we are not able to attain the final solution to the issue. Today Armenia takes positions that contradict all international norms, while the world community does not put pressure on them," Aliyev said. In similar cases elsewhere, when one country occupies another, political and military intervention is observed, he said.

"Yet our case is different for some well-known reasons. As a result of the activity of the Armenian lobby, the world community does not treat the Armenian occupation very seriously. Therefore, we should hold a thorough analysis of the current situation and make some changes to our plan of action for the coming years. We see that we can rely only on ourselves," the head of state said. He said that for this purpose Azerbaijan continues to increase its economic and military strength.

"I do not doubt that Azerbaijani lands will be liberated. The main issue is whether it will be done peacefully or by force."

The president said that the conflict settlement has been drawn out for a long time, while Azerbaijan cannot wait for ever. Speaking of definite achievements in the negotiation process, he said that the withdrawal of Armenian troops from all seven districts around Nagorno-Karabakh and the return of Azerbaijanis to Karabakh itself are being discussed.

"This gives us hope and an additional stimulus for participation in the negotiations. We think that there is hope. But at the same time we see the Armenian side choosing tactics to delay the settlement," Aliyev said. He said that this gives Yerevan time to settle Armenians in the occupied lands, but this will be difficult as Armenian citizens are leaving the country for a variety of reasons and the real population is just 1.7 million. The president thinks that this trend will weaken the contact line between Armenian and Azerbaijani troops in the conflict area.

Interfax-Azerbaijan