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Thursday, 21 July 2005
AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT RULES OUT INDEPENDENCE FOR KARABAKH
By empty (7/21/2005 issue of the CACI Analyst)
President Ilham Aliyev told a cabinet session in Baku on 21 July that the independence of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic cannot be a subject of discussion \"today, tomorrow, in 10 years, or in 100 years.\" He predicted that \"the occupation of Azerbaijani territory will not last forever,\" but stressed that those territories will be liberated \"peacefully, by means of negotiations.\" Aliyev again advocated a step-by-step approach to resolving the conflict, saying that the occupied territories should be liberated and the former residents of those districts repatriated prior to discussion of the future status of the NKR.
President Ilham Aliyev told a cabinet session in Baku on 21 July that the independence of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic cannot be a subject of discussion \"today, tomorrow, in 10 years, or in 100 years.\" He predicted that \"the occupation of Azerbaijani territory will not last forever,\" but stressed that those territories will be liberated \"peacefully, by means of negotiations.\" Aliyev again advocated a step-by-step approach to resolving the conflict, saying that the occupied territories should be liberated and the former residents of those districts repatriated prior to discussion of the future status of the NKR. He repeated his previous offer to grant the enclave \"the highest degree of autonomy in the world\" within the Azerbaijan Republic. (day.az)