Ilkham Aliyev is determinate to return Karabakh
Bby Maksim Yusin
RusData Dialine – Russian Press Digest
May 14, 2004 Friday
SOURCE: Izvestia, No 83, p.1
Azeri president threatens Armenia with war
The Azerbaijan’s President Ilkham Aliyev speaking Wednesday at the
opening ceremony of a military garrison said that his country is
determinate to reclaim the province of Nagorny Karabakh, a disputed
territory now controlled by Armenia.
Aliyev said that “the Azeri people and its army can at any moment
take steps to restore the territorial integrity of the country.
International law gives us right to do it. Azerbaijan will strive to
resolve the conflict over Nagorny Karabakh through negotiations. But
if we see that any further dialogue brings no results, we will liberate
the occupied territories at all costs.”
The Azeri president made his harsh statement on May 12 – the tenth
anniversary of the ceasefire between Armenians and Azerbaijanis in
Nagorny Karabakh, therefore his words are to be taken most seriously.
Yet, Izvestia writes that neither Azerbaijan nor Armenia need a new
war, and the peace negotiations, however difficult they might be,
will probably continue.