Azerbaijani Defence Minister Safar Abiyev has said that talks to resolve the conflict with Armenia have produced no result, so Azerbaijan will have to liberate its land by force.
He made these remarks during a meeting with Polish Defence Minister Bogdan Klich in Baku on Wednesday.
Abiyev briefed Klich on the military and political situation in the region and problems stemming from the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.
He said in the wake of the occupation of Azerbaijan's territories by Armenia that more than one million people had been forced to leave their homes. Abiyev said that the OSCE Minsk Group-mediated negotiations to settle the dispute had yielded no result. "In this case, Azerbaijan will have to resort to military action to liberate its territories," he said.
The Polish ambassador to Azerbaijan, Krzysztof Krajewski, attended the meeting.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev received the Polish delegation on Wednesday.
He said the relationship between Azerbaijan and Poland was developing successfully and described bilateral political ties as “high level”. He said that meetings of the two countries' leaders were “intensive” and “fruitful” and said that both Azerbaijan and Poland were keen to boost cooperation in various spheres.
The president expressed the hope that the Polish minister's current trip to Azerbaijan would contribute to strengthening ties between the two defence ministries.
For his part, Bogdan Klich said his visit to Azerbaijan was a good chance to contribute to developing relations between the two countries. The minister was sure that he would have “fruitful meetings” in Baku during the visit.