President Ilham Aliyev: “Azerbaijan brought peace to the region through war”
Forums with the participation of international experts have already become a tradition at ADA University. In such forums, a number of important local and international issues are discussed, opinions are exchanged regarding the latest processes taking place in our region. The peculiarity of such forums is that it is President Ilham Aliyev who answers the questions of foreign experts and analysts. The next such forum at ADA University will be held on December 6, “Karabakh: Returning home after 30 years. It was organized under the name “Achievements and difficulties”. More than 60 foreign guests from 30 countries participated in the meeting jointly organized by ADA University and the International Relations Analysis Center. President Ilham Aliyev participated in this forum and answered the questions of international experts in detail. Mr. President said that Azerbaijan has always taken constructive positions: “Azerbaijani side said that we should sign a peace agreement and have delimitation commissions. It was Azerbaijan who said this, not Armenia, not Brussels, Washington, Paris or Moscow.”
In the questions asked, it is a matter of pride that Azerbaijan has restored its territorial integrity and sovereignty, and President Ilham Aliyev’s name has been highlighted as the leader who won the Karabakh war. It is also noteworthy to mention the steps taken by the head of state as a leader who brought peace to our country and the South Caucasus region. The president noted with great pride that Azerbaijan brought peace to the region through war: “I think that this is an issue that should be evaluated more broadly than the local situation in the Caucasus. How to achieve peace through military means? During many years of negotiations and occupation, I heard from the co-chairmen of the Minsk Group, three of them unanimously stated that there is no military solution to the conflict. It turns out that all three of them were wrong. Despite the history of statehood, extensive international experience, and being a permanent member of the UN Security Council, they were wrong. I think that either they were wrong because of their wrong assessment, or it was a kind of message to Azerbaijan that if you go for a scenario other than the peace scenario, you will not succeed. We proved that there is a military solution to the conflict. Thus, the conflict was resolved”.
Mr. President, indeed, has repeatedly invited Armenia to conclude a peace treaty. However, Armenia is trying to take a step back in this matter as well. The delay in signing the peace agreement is not a positive thing. Of course, there are those who want to prevent it. They use the opportunity to try to prevent Armenia and Azerbaijan from reaching an actual agreement. President Ilham Aliyev said at the forum that the party delaying the peace process is not Azerbaijan, but Armenia: “Why did they delay it? I don’t know that. Was it their own decision or was it advised by their new friends in some European capitals? I don’t know that, I can only speculate. But the fact is that we received the answer to the comments we sent on September 11 on November 21. Now our Ministry of Foreign Affairs is reviewing those comments and we will send it back. I think that a meeting of foreign ministers will be appropriate after that. Because now we see that we are still not close to a consensus, but many important issues that Armenia insisted on from the beginning no longer exist. They are generally not available and not in their comments. I don’t want to go into too much detail because you understand that this is a confidential document.”
There have been many injustices against Azerbaijan. In particular, the settlement of the Karabakh issue has been artificially delayed for almost 30 years. During this period, Azerbaijan showed patience and tried to resolve the issue peacefully. In general, Azerbaijan has always been chosen for its initiative in this and other issues in the region. As Mr. President said, the situation in the region is changing and Azerbaijan is the initiator of the changes to a large extent: “This is natural, because we had to fully restore Azerbaijan’s sovereignty over the territory recognized at the international level. We wanted to do it peacefully, in the same way we wanted to resolve the conflict with Armenia peacefully for almost 30 years. Unfortunately, this was not possible. There were many reasons for this and we have discussed them in detail in our previous meetings”.
Prolongation of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan has resulted in a number of Western organizations exhibiting a double standard position. It is interesting that this injustice was also noted by foreign experts participating in the forum. Mr. President said that now Azerbaijan is facing several international challenges: “Unfortunately, we see misunderstanding from some countries that we consider partners. Norms of international law are mandatory for everyone and a selective approach cannot be allowed. Today, Azerbaijan supports the conclusion of a lasting peace agreement. For this, the wishes of all participants must be fulfilled. In other words, Azerbaijan does not accept unilateral peace. Therefore, a fair approach is very important for Azerbaijan.
Ibrahimova Gulzar Isakhan gizi, Eurasian University vice-rector for scientific affairs, doctor of sciences in political sciences, professor