Occupation of our territories by Armenia is one of the main problems of Azerbaijan after gaining independence. It affected us very much. It affected generally security and cooperation in the region” said Ilham Aliyev the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan at the official opening ceremony of the Crans Montana Forum.

The President noted that Nagorno Karabakh is historically recognized territory of Azerbaijan and Armenia occupied these lands performing ethnic cleansing against Azerbaijanis.

“In general 20 percent of our territory is under Armenian occupation. There are UN Security Council resolutions and Helsinki Act on it. UN Security Council adopted 4 resolutions. These resolutions demand unconditional withdrawal of Armenian forces from Azerbaijani territories. But they are not fulfilling these resolutions. European Union, OSCE and other worthy organizations adopted resolutions. But not fulfilling these resolutions for a long time, puts activity of the international organizations under doubt. Nagorno Karabakh is located almost in the center of Azerbaijan and the resolutions adopted on the conflict reflects liberation of occupied lands, returning forcefully departed people to their native lands” added the President.

Ilham Aliyev noted that the fact finding missions of OSCE showed all the historical and cultural monuments were destroyed in Nagorno Karabakh.

Azerbaijani President expressed his confidence that Azerbaijan will restore territorial integrity. “The territorial integrity of Azerbaijan is recognized by UN. Nagorno Karabakh is an inseparable part of Azerbaijan.

And it is accepted by all the international organizations. No country in the world recognizes Nagorno Karabakh as an independent state. We put diplomatic efforts in this field. We are strengthening our economy. I am sure all these factors will give us opportunity to restore our sovereignty and territorial integrity. The conflict should be solved basing the norms and principles of international law, Helsinki Final Act. The act reads that the principle of self-determination of people should not contradict territorial integrity principle and the right of self determination should be solved within frame of territorial integrity principle”, said Ilham Aliyev the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

APA