Ilham Aliyev: Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity – as valuable as that of other countries

Ilham Aliyev: Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity – as valuable as that of other countries
# 16 November 2016 07:57 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Ramiz Mikayiloghlu – APA. Nagorno-Karabakh is a historic land of Azerbaijan, said Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev.

The president made the remarks addressing the opening ceremony of the 5th News Agencies World Congress and the 16th General Assembly of the Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA) in Baku Nov. 16.

“Armenia occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, which in the USSR period was an autonomous region of Azerbaijan, and seven surrounding districts, and over one million Azerbaijanis became refugees and internally displaced people. Armenia carried out a policy of ethnic cleansing,” said Ilham Aliyev.

He stressed that the four UN Security Council resolutions demanding the withdrawal of Armenian forces from the occupied Azerbaijani territories remain unfulfilled.

“Mechanisms for implementing the UN resolutions should be considered,” President Aliyev said, adding. “The Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Non-Aligned Movement and European organizations also passed similar resolutions and decisions on the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. However, Armenia ignores these documents.”

OSCE has sent fact-finding missions to the occupied lands twice and the report of these missions are horrifying, said the president. “All of our mosques and historical monuments have been destroyed by Armenia. But the Armenian church in Baku is under the protection of the state,” he noted.

The head of state reiterated that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should be resolved within the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

“Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity is as valuable as that of other countries,” stressed President Aliyev.

Ilham Aliyev spoke about the visit of Pope Francis to Azerbaijan in October this year.

“Pope Francis held a meeting with heads of religious communities in Baku, during which he highlighted the existence of inter-religious dialogue in Baku. This is the result of what we have achieved,” he said.

“We are concerned over the ongoing religious and ethnic confrontations around the world. Therefore, we are pursuing a policy of multiculturalism. We are in favor of cooperation,” added President Aliyev.

The head of state pointed out that representatives of different ethnic and religious groups live in peace and harmony in Azerbaijan.

Nagorno Garabagh

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