Ilham Aliyev receives Turkish parliamentarians

On August 30, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev received a delegation of the Turkish Grand National Assembly led by head of the Azerbaijani-Turkish inter-parliamentary friendship group Shamil Ayrim.

According to the website of the head of state, during the conversation Aliyev, referring to the situation in the region, said that Azerbaijan is in favor of sustainable peace.  However, to his thinking, territorial claims to Azerbaijan should be eliminated in the Armenian Constitution for this purpose.

He added that there is no need to keep the OSCE Minsk Group.

In Aliyev's opinion, the OSCE Minsk Group and related institutes are a relic of the past and should be completely liquidated.

In this respect, the President expressed surprise at Armenia's stance on the OSCE Minsk Group. “If the conflict is a relic of the past and the Armenian Prime Minister expresses support for Azerbaijan's territorial integrity, why is the Minsk Group needed!!!?  Apparently, Armenia is not interested in a peace treaty and achieving sustainable peace in the region,” Aliyev remarked.

He believes that Armenia deliberately delays the conclusion of peace, at the same time buying new weapons from France and other Western countries, conducting military exercises with third parties on its territory.

Aliyev also touched upon the “unfair attitude” towards Azerbaijan by “anti-Azerbaijani forces” in a number of Western institutes.

He emphasized that the anti-Azerbaijani position in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe is directly related to the fact that Azerbaijan has ensured its territorial integrity and sovereignty.