Azeri president warns Armenia against continuing conflict over Karabakh
BAKU. Jan 15 (Interfax) - Armenia should withdraw its troops from Azeri territory, or otherwise the continuation of the conflict will do it no good, Azeri President Ilham Aliyev said.
"I am sure that the forces in Armenia approaching the problem from a realistic standpoint perfectly understand that this conflict and rivalry with Azerbaijan doesn't promise any good to them but, on the contrary, they are losing this fight more and more," Aliyev said at a government session dealing with the country's socioeconomic development in 2012 and prospects for 2013.
Negotiations on Nagorno-Karabakh have stalled because of Armenia's unconstructive position, Aliyev said. "However, there are principles from which we won't step back by an inch. This issue should be settled only based on Azerbaijan's territorial integrity, and the occupation forces must leave Azeri territory," he said.
Baku's position on the conflict is unshakeable from either a legal or a political standpoint, and Azerbaijan is also stepping up its economic and military might, he said.
At the same time, the international community's position on the problem is also unambiguous, fair and based on international law, Aliyev said. The president mentioned resolutions adopted in 2012 at NATO and Non-Aligned Movement summits saying that the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh must be settled based on the countries' territorial integrity.