Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev visited Yevlakh, Fizuli and Agdam districts on Wednesday and Thursday.
In Yevlakh he opened a residential complex built to house people displaced by the Armenian occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
The president congratulated the displaced people on their new homes and pledged that they would have even better housing when they were able to return to their towns and villages. He restated Azerbaijan's position that the peace talks with Armenia have to be productive or Azerbaijan will change its policy.
News.Az prints below the president's speech:
“I welcome you and congratulate you on the opening of this wonderful new estate. There are beautiful buildings and good flats here. Multi-storey buildings for displaced persons have been built in the regions for the first time. There are not one or two, but 10 five-storey buildings. A total of 612 families will live here. I have inspected them and seen that these are beautiful, good flats. All the conditions are in place - a wonderful school, a medical centre, a kindergarten - that is, all the conditions for living, all the opportunities, are here. The utilities have been provided, including energy, water and gas distribution lines. I am sure you will be comfortable here.
"As you know, the Azerbaijani state is taking all steps to continue work to improve the living conditions of displaced persons. Special programs have been adopted. The programs are implemented and much has been spent on this purpose. Tens of thousands of displaced persons have already moved to new flats and houses. All the tent camps have been removed. Azerbaijan has not had a tent city for three years now. We achieved this objective in a short period. Today we are building wonderful, good houses for our compatriots to live in good conditions, although temporarily.
"Certainly, this work requires financial means and well-thought-out policy. We have financial means. All these houses and settlements for displaced persons in different regions of the country are built from the State Oil Fund. In fact, these are state means. The Oil Fund was created thanks to the implementation of the oil strategy of great leader Heydar Aliyev. The first revenues were spent on these purposes. And now significant means are envisaged every year. Had it not been for the financial opportunities, we would not have been able to carry out this work. However, the presence of financial means does not not in itself resolve the issue. Political will and a well-thought-out policy are needed. This wonderful town is obvious proof of the work done. We will provide you with good conditions, though this is temporary. As part of the state program, additional measures will be taken, Finnish settlements [older wooden houses] eliminated, our compatriots housed in schools and military units, will be resettled in new houses. We will do this. This is how we build our policy.
"However, as I have mentioned, this is a temporary place of residence. After the liberation of our lands from occupiers, we will build more beautiful houses there. We will restore all our towns, new villages and settlements will be built, since, as you know, the Armenian occupiers have destroyed almost all the buildings in the occupied lands and removed the whole infrastructure. The OSCE field assessment mission, recently sent to the occupied lands at our initiative, has seen this with their own eyes, and we expect them to prepare an honest report, reflecting the reality. The Armenians have broken everything there, demonstrating unseen cruelty. After the liberation of our lands we will conduct huge work there. Preliminary calculations have already been made. We know the order we will follow in doing this. I am sure that within a short time we will build more wonderful buildings, houses, schools and create the whole infrastructure.
Restoration of territorial integrity
"We are trying to settle this issue as soon as possible. For many years our compatriots have been living as refugees and displaced persons. Unfortunately, Armenia which breaks international norms, does not respect international law, ignores the resolutions of the United Nations. The resolutions of all other international organizations also support our position and demand the unconditional withdrawal of Armenian troops from our lands. However, the Armenian side does not execute them. In this case, we do not have a big choice. We should either continue political and diplomatic efforts and liberate our lands by transforming the economic advantage into military, which is our main objective, or hold talks only for the sake of talks. The Azerbaijani state will never do this. I want to say once again that we are holding negotiations just to achieve our goal which is to restore international law and territorial integrity. The world recognized that the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan must be restored. This is our goal. To attain this goal we are using and must use different options. This is our sovereign right. We want to settle the issue through negotiations and by peaceful means. But we see that the Armenia side is just protracting the settlement, therefore, a new stage begins in the process of negotiations. We expect Armenia to respond to the proposed issues. If the issue is not positive, then we will certainly make changes to our policy.
"At the same time, it is no secret that we are successfully building the army. Our military strength is growing and combat readiness is rising. The spirit of patriotism and professionalism are at a high level. I do not doubt that our armed forces are able to achieve an objective with dignity and within a short period of time.
"I do not doubt that we will restore the territorial integrity of the country. This is the requirement of history, this is the requirement of justice, this is proven by the correlation of powers established in the region today. Armenia will never be to able to compete with Azerbaijan. This is impossible today and the gap will become even greater. For us as a state, the main objective is to restore the territorial integrity of the country. No goal is more important. We have mobilized all our efforts to attain this goal. This is our national cause. The entire Azerbaijani people has consolidated its efforts to attain this goal and certainly our power in the future will be even more effective and the steps taken will be more serious. Therefore, if Armenians look to the future, they will realize that this policy of occupation has no future. This issue will be settled by the will of time and the growing strength of Azerbaijan and our army. I do not doubt this and I am sure that we will liberate our native lands, and our compatriots who today live as refugees and displaced persons will return to their native lands.
"Meanwhile, we are now doing everything possible to make your lives easier. We have built wonderful, good houses. I hope you will live comfortably here. But I know that you will never forget your native land - you and the young generation. The young generation who did not see those lands is growing up now. Yet, despite this, they are living with a dream of returning to those lands. The Azerbaijani people will never forget their native lands, never be reconciled with the current situation. Both the opposite side and the mediators on the issue know this.
"I again welcome you and congratulate you, I wish you health and happiness. I hope that everything will be fine in your lives."
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