"The prospects mainly depend on the position of the Armenian side. We have expressed our position. We are ready to begin the process of delimiting the state border. We are ready to start work on a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Because it is necessary. The war is over, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has been consigned to forever," said Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in his interview with Russia's “Nasionalnaya oborona” magazine, APA reports.
"Therefore, it is necessary to arrange normal interaction. As you know, there is a trilateral working group at the level of deputy prime ministers of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. In other words, work on the future of the region is under way, albeit with difficulties. The Armenian side took a time-out for a month and a half, even for two and a half months. Work of the working group resumed only on 17 August. We are ready to move towards the normalization of relations, but so far there have been no positive signals from the Armenian side. Unfortunately, questions about the status of Nagorno-Karabakh are still being raised, which is completely unpromising and, I think, harmful and dangerous for Armenia in its current deplorable state. Because they should not forget the lessons of the second Karabakh war. If Armenia continues to have territorial claims against Azerbaijan, it will be difficult for Azerbaijan to refrain from territorial claims against Armenia. We have more grounds for this in terms of the historical belonging of Zangazur and the region of Lake Goycha. We have more historical prerequisites for territorial claims. But we are not putting them forward. Why does Armenia, having been defeated and having signed an act of surrender, consider itself entitled to speak about some kind of a status for Nagorno-Karabakh? A status for something that doesn’t exist. There is no Nagorno-Karabakh. There is Karabakh economic region, there is East Zangazur economic region. This is our territory, and it is up to us to determine what administrative units we can have. This is only up to us, no-one else, no other country, especially Armenia. Therefore, I think that this ongoing and hackneyed story about the status and about Nagorno-Karabakh poses a great threat to Armenia. It would be better for them not to anger and irritate us, but to agree as long as our proposal is still on the table. The same thing can happen again, as was the case with the war. We offered to stop on time. We offered them to leave of their own accord, they did not agree, but now they are reaping the fruits of that. The same can be true with this situation.
And I think that the initiatives that are being discussed in the countries of the region are also aimed at positively cooperation. You know that there is a 3+3 initiative, which is supported by Russia, Iran, Turkey, Azerbaijan. Georgia has an objection, while Armenia has not expressed its position. Neither yes nor no. Again, there is no position. And if this is a positive position, then we can start working in this direction. And this, in turn, will serve not only to stabilize and minimize security risks in the region, but will also contribute to the fact that countries of the region will determine their interaction themselves, will decide how they will live themselves. The region will get rid of any external influence. Our position is like this. We are demonstrating it and not only demonstrating it but also working in this direction. With all our neighbors with the exception of Armenia, we have good relations – one might say close and friendly relations. We value them. Therefore, if Armenia joins this format, everyone will only benefit. We are committed to this. But perhaps they need some time. Perhaps the psychological shock they have experienced does not allow them to take important steps for the time being. Because their whole ideology was built on expansionism, on conquest, on fake history. They convinced themselves that they were right. This is their tragedy. They need to live in a new way now, to live in completely different realities. They need to understand that what used to be there will never be there again. They need to soberly assess the balance of powers, the geopolitical situation, the prospect of the balance of powers. They need to soberly assess that, not to go back to illusions and some mythological fables. But we are not seeing that as yet. We are not. But probably the time is not right. Hope, as they say, springs eternal. Let's hope," noted the President.
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