The 9th Global Baku Forum on “Threats to the Global Order”, which will last until June 18, started today. President Ilham Aliyev attended the opening ceremony of the event and delivered speech. Aliyev touched upon relations with Armenia after the ceasefire agreement, the Minsk Group and other issues around Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
What did President say:
- The Armenian government must learn from the Second Karabakh War and put an end to its territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenia calls into question the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and forces Azerbaijan to take similar steps against Armenia’s territorial integrity.
- If Armenia continues to demand status for Karabakh Armenians, why shouldn’t Azerbaijanis demand status for Western Zangazur? Because the population of this area used to be completely Azerbaijani.
- We hear statements from the Armenian government about the status of the so-called Nagorno-Karabakh. This is both inefficient and dangerous for Armenia itself. The Armenian government must stop trying to rewrite history. History has already been written.
- It will be difficult for us to talk about peace if the Zangazur corridor is not opened, and Azerbaijan’s efforts towards normal coexistence and neighborly relations with Armenia will fail.
- The Minsk Group has not achieved any results for 28 years. After Azerbaijan resolved the Karabakh conflict, there has been no need for the Minsk Group. The Madrid Principles developed by them have been implemented.
- Our proposals on the normalization of relations with Armenia include mutual respect for each other’s borders. We are glad that the Armenian government has adopted these five principles.
Ilham Aliyev also stressed that since Armenia has adopted the five principles proposed by Azerbaijan, only practical work remains to be done.
