Baku, March 20, AZERTAC
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has hailed the strengthening of the country`s international positions.
“Today, Azerbaijan has established very effective and businesslike bilateral relations with many countries,” he said in his message of congratulation to the people of Azerbaijan on the occasion of Novruz.
“In many cases, Azerbaijan has been the initiator of a multilateral cooperation format. Our relations with neighboring countries have entered a new phase. For any country, relations with neighbors are of particular importance. I am very glad that we have managed to establish fruitful and businesslike relations based on mutual respect with our neighboring countries.”
“Our relations with Muslim countries are developing, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation appreciates the activities of Azerbaijan in this area. Our contribution to Islamic solidarity is highly appreciated throughout the Muslim world,” the head of state said.
“Last summer, a document on the priorities of partnership with the European Union was initialed. This is a very important document, especially if we consider that it contains special paragraphs, special thoughts concerning the territorial integrity, sovereignty and the inviolability of the borders of Azerbaijan. Of course, this is a very important issue, which is of paramount importance especially for the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.”
“As far as the settlement of the conflict is concerned, the position of Azerbaijan remains unchanged. This conflict must be resolved only within the territorial integrity of our country. Nagorno-Karabakh is our historical land, and the earliest possible resolution of the conflict must be based only on the norms and principles of international law. As you know, the Armenian side has raised questions about changing the format of the negotiations. However, Azerbaijan certainly cannot accept this. At the same time, the ambassadors of the Minsk Group co-chair countries, representatives of the United States, France and Russia, have issued a serious statement, noting that the format must remain unchanged. Similar statements have been made by high-ranking officials of the European Union. So this is definitely a serious signal for Armenia. It is also evidence that the position of Azerbaijan gains even greater support,” the President added.