Ilham Aliyev once again called the statement of the US Secretary of State John Kerry about the impossibility to settle the Karabakh conflict "shameless" and explained that with the US unwillingness to resolve the conflict.
In an interview with the Russian TV journalist Dmitry Kiselyov he called Kerry's statement "diplomatic casus". “At least it is shameless to blame Azerbaijan for the lack of resolution of the conflict,” Aliyev said.
The US Secretary of State said he does not see the settlement; moreover, the conflict is more difficult to resolve than the Israel-Palestine one. This sends a signal to Armenia that they can suspend the conflict for long. This statement once again demonstrates why the conflict is not settled, Aliyev said.
On the question of why this is happening, Aliyev said Azerbaijan is punished in this way for disobedience. “We have all the guarantees of freedom, but Azerbaijan is constantly turning into an object for unfounded attacks. All this is politically motivated, and the reason is that Azerbaijan cooperates with the United States and the European Union as an equal partner. But, apparently, for some circles of these countries that is not enough, and they want more, they want us to execute instructions, and we are not fit for this role.”
“We want to cooperate, but we absolutely do not want anyone to interfere in our affairs, provide secret funding of political parties under the guise of NGOs, try to destabilize and openly interfere in our internal affairs,” said Aliyev.
“Will Azerbaijan arrange early presidential election?” In answering this question, Aliyev gave a negative answer. “We have no intention to change the term of the presidency. I know what conversations are going on in Azerbaijan and abroad. There are no plans of the kind and I don’t see any need for this. As for my participation or non-participation, the next presidential elections are to be held on the date two years later, and there is still plenty of time until then to draw any conclusions or decisions. If I feel the support of the people in the same way as today, then, of course, I will strive to justify that trust,” he said, noting that the recent referendum showed full support for his policy by the people. -02D-
Politics
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The recent detentions of journalists in Azerbaijan have caused sharp criticism from the country's politicians and public figures.
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The International Committee to Protect Journalists (ICPJ) condemned the arrest of Shamshad Agha, editor-in-chief of the independent news website 'Arqument.az', and called on the Azerbaijani authorities to release him and other imprisoned journalists.
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