Sanctions Should Be Applied against Armenia - Ilham Aliyev

Baku / 20.09.17 / Turan: International sanctions should be applied against Armenia, which continues the occupation of Azerbaijani territories, contrary to the requirements of the UN Security Council. Mechanisms for the implementation of UN Security Council resolutions should be created, the Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said at the opening of the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly on September 20.

As Aliyev noted, Armenia occupies 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory for more than 25 years, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven other regions of the country.

President Ilham Aliyev recalled the Khojaly genocide committed by Armenia, which resulted in the killing of 613 civilians, including 106 women and 63 children.

And one of those war criminals who committed horrible crimes against humanity is the current President of Armenia, Aliyev continued.

President Ilham Aliyev stressed that Armenia has ignored the UN Security Council resolutions on the necessity to withdraw the occupation troops from the territories of Azerbaijan for already 24 years.

Aliyev noted that in some cases the UN Security Council resolutions are implemented within a few days. "In our case, these resolutions have not been implemented for 24 years, which is double standards, and this is unacceptable, and international sanctions must be imposed on Armenia. One of the important reforms of the UN should be to create a mechanism for the implementation of Security Council resolutions," he said.

Armenia does its best to keep the status quo unchanged and blocks the substantive negotiations. "The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, that is France, Russia and the United States, have repeatedly stated that the status quo is unacceptable," the President continued. "The question is how this corrupt and failed state ruled by a despotic medieval regime can afford to violate international law over many years, and to ignore the resolutions of the UN Security Council and the statements of the world's leading countries? The answer is double standards," the President of Azerbaijan said.

President Ilham Aliyev added that Azerbaijan is committed to a peaceful settlement of the conflict, but at the same time it will defend its citizens in accordance with the UN Charter if the Armenian military provocations continue.

"If necessary, we will punish the aggressor once again, as was done in April 2016. The Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict must be resolved on the basis of international law and the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council, and the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan must be fully restored," Aliyev noted. -06d--