"Azerbaijan not to surrender an inch of its land", says president

The Milli Mejlis convened Friday to discuss the three proposals put forward by the OSCE Minsk Group to this end as to the settlement of the Garabagh conflict. The debates were attended by MPs, leaders of a number of political parties, heads of public organizations and leading mass media. Also in attendance were US, Turkish, French, Romanian and British ambassadors and other diplomats. Despite being invited, chairmen of Musavat, PNIA, ALP, ADP, ASDP and others didn’t turn up.

Speaking first, Foreign Minister Vilayat Guliyev briefed the meeting on the gist of the three proposals, which were fully published in local media on February 21. In his remarks, the Minister said Azerbaijan, governed by the interests of regional peace, had accepted the first two suggestions, but brushed off the third one (on a condominium state) as totally unacceptable and devoid of legal framework.

According to Mr. Guliyev, the second suggestion, stipulating a stage-by-stage settlement, was more acceptable and envisioned liberation of all the occupied provinces of Azerbaijan except Shusha and Lachin. The proposal was also accepted by the former President of Armenia Ter-Petrossian, something that cost him his post.

The minister complained that after the three proposals, the Minsk Group didn’t do much for 13 months. President Aliyev was and is applying every effort possible for a resolution of the conflict in various international meetings and summits. However, the comprehensive solution to the problem remains elusive. “At this crucial time, every citizen of Azerbaijan must support the President”, the Minister concluded.

In his speech, President Aliyev said today’s meeting was not very usual. Unlike meetings mainly dedicated to the discussion of the already attained results, this one is intended to review something proposed to have been done. He said it was time to speak about the suggestions as it is clear now that they remained fruitless. The three proposals of the OSCE Minsk Group toward peace settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijan conflict, none of which is acceptable for Azerbaijan, have gone down in history, the President said.

He then spoke of the territorial claims and annexation of Azeri lands by Armenians throughout the 20th century, the Armenian-Azerbaijan stand-off of the last 13 years, mentioning that the conflict was instigated in 1988 with Armenia’s call for unification with Upper Garabagh.

Then, touching upon the military defeat of Azerbaijan, the President said it would be wrong to look for the guilty today. However, he said the problem was not in the lack of military strength. The success of Armenians is explained by the fact that they had been preparing for the war for a long time, while Azerbaijan had forgotten of the historical animosity of Armenians to Turks. Besides, Armenians of the world and lobbies in different countries joined in the name of victory, while in Azerbaijan, as soon as it gained independence, a struggle for power was in full swing.

The purpose of the meeting is for the people to discuss together what can be done under the circumstances, the President said and criticized opposition leaders that were absent. He then condemned their pleas for public protest actions. He reiterated that none of the three suggestions had been accepted. “H. Aliyev will not make a decision hurting national interests and will not surrender an inch of Azeri land”, the President said.

The head of state said that on March 4, on the initiative of Jacques Chirac, he would again meet with Robert Kocharian in Paris, while on the following day all the three will get together. He then indicated that he would continue direct talks with R. Kocharian, but they have to run in parallel with active work of the OSCE Minsk Group.

Addressing those supporting the military solution to the problem, H. Aliyev said Azerbaijan has a strong army, but such a decision would involve heavy human loss and draw fire from the international community. “I am not avoiding the war. If the people demand this, I am ready”, he said.

In conclusion, the President called on the participants to take an active part in the discussion.

At the beginning of the debates, vice-premier Ali Hasanov suggested that the acceptable aspects of the three suggestions be used in preparation of a new peace plan. He then indicated that the compromised have to be mutual. For example, if we provide the Lachin corridor to Armenians, they have to provide us with a similar corridor for connections with Nakhchivan. The PFPA leader Ali Karimov castigated the Azerbaijan government for being inclined to make concessions. In response, the President said there had been no concessions, but only a consent to discuss the first two suggestions.

The discussion is expected to resume on Saturday.*