There will be no referendum in Karabakh - I. Aliyev

Baku / 22.10.20 / Turan: Ilham Aliyev is ready to hold a meeting with Nikol Pashinyan if the meeting of the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia on October 23 yields a result. The result should be the following - Yerevan must declare its readiness to liberate the occupied territories and withdraw its troops from Nagorno-Karabakh, President Ilham Aliyev said this in an interview with the Japanese newspaper Nikkei on Thursday.

At the same time, he expressed pessimism about the readiness of official Yerevan to take constructive steps.

“The main issue in the course of all negotiations was the implementation of the well-known UN Security Council resolutions. Instead, Pashinyan makes a statement that Karabakh is Armenia. In this case, there is no room for negotiations,” he said.

It is impossible to observe the ceasefire regime unilaterally. Every time the Armenians violate it, firing at civilians far from the battle zone. After the first truce, they fired rockets at the city of Ganja, which became a war crime.

“If we are attacked, then we not only defend, but also counterattack. This is how the liberation of our occupied territories takes place. If the Armenian authorities really want a truce, then they should not violate the ceasefire and liberate the occupied territories of Azerbaijan,” he said.

When asked about the possible introduction of peacekeepers or observers into the region, Aliyev said that Azerbaijan and Armenia must agree to this and their composition. However, this issue will be considered after the ceasefire.

“We must remember that we are talking about the territory of Azerbaijan, not Armenia, so the decisive word will remain with us, not Armenia,” Aliyev stressed.

When asked about the possibility of a referendum in Nagorno-Karabakh, Aliyev said, “There will be no referendum in Nagorno-Karabakh. We have never given consent to this and now, when a significant part of the territories has been liberated, there can be no question of this,” Aliyev said. -02D-