BBC Monitoring Service, ANS TV,
12, January 2008


[Presenter] Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has named the districts that must be liberated from occupation.

[Presenter continuing over video of Aliyev addressing a cabinet meeting] ... He said at a cabinet meeting that Armenia's nonconstructive position and the world community's indifference to the issue makes the peaceful settlement of the Nagornyy Karabakh problem impossible. Although the whole world admits that Azerbaijan's position is right, this support is not yielding real results, the president said. The head of state said that 2008 will be a decisive year in the settlement of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict. This year will clearly show where we are and whether it is possible to solve the issue in a peaceful way or not. After that, we will make our own decision.

The president said that Azerbaijan will never discuss its territorial integrity. The independence of Nagornyy Karabakh is not and will not be subject to discussion now or in the future.

Ilham Aliyev also said that the Armenian leadership sometimes makes false statements for domestic consumption. He said that the essence of the negotiations is [the Armenians'] withdrawal from all occupied territories of Azerbaijan and the return of Azerbaijani citizens to Nagornyy Karabakh.

The districts of Agdam, Fizuli, Zangilan, Cabrayil, Qubadli, Kalbacar and Lacin must be vacated. I listed all these districts so that the Armenians do not make false statements for their own political purposes tomorrow.

The withdrawal of the Armenian occupying forces from all these districts and the return of Azerbaijani displaced persons to Nagornyy Karabakh and Susa are the main essence of the negotiations. This is the reality, end quote.

Saying that Armenia is a mono-ethnic state that has expelled all other ethnic groups and lives in a closed, militarized and anti-democratic regime, the president added that a criminal bandit group has seized the region of Nagornyy Karabakh and a military-criminal regime is in power there. This is a region that is beyond any international monitoring, and no-one knows what is going on there, what arms and terrorist forces are kept there and how drugs are cultivated there. This is a black stain within Europe.

[Aliyev addressing the cabinet meeting] Of course, we are very concerned about the unfair Nagornyy Karabakh problem, which is the most painful and difficult problem for us, and its unresolved status. We are trying to solve the issue in a peaceful way, but we can see that it is not possible to achieve this yet. What is the reason? It is Armenia's nonconstructive position and the world community's indifferent attitude to this issue. We have to be honest about everything. The whole world admits and states, and Azerbaijan's territorial integrity is supported, recognized and defended in all bilateral and international meetings and official documents. And we can hear everywhere that you are right, your territory has been occupied and justice is on your side.