INTERVIEWS
Azerbaijan will never concede an inch of its land
Q: As you know the French President initiated a meeting of the Azerbaijani and Armenian Presidents. How do you think isn`t Bourg-lès-Valence Mayor Marlene Mourier`s recent visit to the occupied lands a damage to the peace process?
A: In fact, I don’t believe the meeting initiated by the French President will give any results. So one should not be optimistic about the upcoming meeting. As far as the visit of Bourg-lès-Valence Mayor Marlene Mourier`s to the occupied lands, the Foreign Ministry has already made a statement to make clear the position of the Azerbaijani government. I believe the Azerbaijani Embassy in France will also take necessary measures.
Q: May this be a provocative act of Armenia ahead of the meeting of the presidents?
A: The Armenian government is trying to carry out a provocative at any opportunity and make Azerbaijan run out of patience. This is not the first provocation of Armenia. So we should not be surprised if we learn that the visit was organized by the Armenian government.
Q: Freedom House, Human Rights Watch and the European Parliament have recently made biased statements against Azerbaijan. This happens against the background of Azerbaijan`s contribution to ensuring Europe`s energy security. Don’t you think it is an attempt to distract the international community`s attention from the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict?
A: These organizations are certainly influenced by certain forces. And their statements clearly reflect the interests of these forces. By these organizations are incapable of exerting any influence on Azerbaijan. As far as the European Parliament is concerned, the MilliMajlis has sharply reacted tom this organization`s resolution. In fact, a group of pro-Armenian deputies adopted a resolution on behalf of the European Parliament without analyzing the situation. They even go beyond their authority to urge sanctions against our country. This position can harm our relations with the European Parliament. But not the European Union.
AS I mentioned the European Parliament has no authority to exert influence on Azerbaijan. I would recommend this organization address the problem of the violation of human rights in Europe. If the European Parliament really wants to address some problems in Azerbaijan, then they have EURONEST. So any issue must be addressed under this format.
We should not take the resolution of the European Parliament as pressure. What can they achieve by pressing Azerbaijan? We have nothing to lose.
Azerbaijan is making a tremendous contribution to ensuring energy security of Europe. European organizations must appreciate this. I would recommend the European Union to attach bigger attention to pragmatic issues.
Q: The co-chairs want to speed up the negotiations process. What do you think of it?
A: What happens in Ukraine awakened Europe. You know that the European Union-Russia relations are deteriorating. They see that Russia is using the unresolved conflicts to restore its status of a superpower. On the other hand, frozen conflicts can “melt” to unleash new wars. All this happens close to European borders. Europe hopes to find a solution to the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict through encouraging Azerbaijan to concede part of its lands. But they are mistaken. Azerbaijan will never concede an inch of its territory. The President of the Azerbaijan Republic has repeatedly declared that there will never be the second Armenian state in the territory of Azerbaijan.
Q: How can direct dialogue between the Azerbaijani and Armenian communities of the Nagorno-Karabakh contribute to the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute?
A: The mediators are trying to build confidence between the conflicting parties, and say that the Azerbaijani and Armenian communities of the Nagorno-Karabakh should meet and cooperation. We agree that confidence should be built between the parties. But no one should forget that the Azerbaijani community was expelled from Nagorno-Karabakh by the Armenian community. Confidence is that the Azerbaijani community must return to its homeland.