Ilham Aliyev: there will be no peace without the liberation of the occupied territories

At today's one-on-one meeting  of the President Ilham Aliyev with  Prime Minister of the Russian Federation in Baku were discussed important issues of bilateral cooperation and n was touched upon the settlement of the Karabakh conflict, taking into account the recent escalation of the conflict,  said after the talks the head of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev.

"We know that Mr. Medvedev was  to pay an official visit to Armenia  on 7 of April. In view of the  situation in the conflict zone, we appreciate the decision to come to Azerbaijan on 8 April. This again indicates that Russia's relations with Armenia and Azerbaijan are of great importance ,"Aliyev said.

"With regard to the settlement of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which,  unfortunately, cannot be solve for  many years, Azerbaijani lands are under occupation, not only Nagorno Karabakh but also seven adjacent regions  are under occupation for over 20 years. From there was expelled all Azerbaijani population, destroyed all the houses, historical monuments. Just from the conflict zone, we have more than 700,000 thousand displaced persons. If you add more than 250,000 refugees from Armenia, when there was a truce in 1994, we had one of the highest  the percentage of refugees and internally displaced persons  per capita," Aliyev said.

There is a mechanism for the settlement of the conflict, there are four UN Security Council resolutions demanding withdrawal of Armenian occupying forces from Azerbaijani territories. Unfortunately, they are not satisfied. Russia, as a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, plays an important role in resolving the conflict.

Azerbaijan is committed to the negotiating process,  and for 20 years Armenia absolutely groundless accuses Azerbaijan of escalation. The nature of armed clashes in early April, says that we have not any intention to begin a large-scale military operations. "We are simply defending our positions, defended peaceful life of our citizens," Aliyev said.

"Changing the status quo, the rejection of the occupation of Azerbaijani territory - is the main condition for a comprehensive settlement of the conflict. As soon as it happens,  peace, tranquility, cooperation will  be restored in the country, and all countries in the region will benefit," said Aliyev. -02D-