Share :

Download PDF :

6 April 2017

APA

The Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict that emerged at the end of the last century remains a major obstacle to the development of Azerbaijan, President Ilham Aliyev said in his message addressed to the participants of the 20th Eurasian Economic Summit that is underway in Istanbul.

“Armenia, with the support of foreign supporters, occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijani territories and committed acts of ethnic cleansing and genocide against Azerbaijanis. Despite the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council, the occupying country doesn’t want to leave the occupied Azerbaijani territories and tries by all means to prolong the status quo,” President Aliyev said in his message.

“The most dangerous thing is that the Armenian leadership is trying to present this conflict, unleashed after Armenia’s territorial claims, as a confrontation between Christians and Muslims in order to create a global confrontation,” stressed the Azerbaijani president.

President Aliyev said that Azerbaijan, on all issues, puts forward proposals for common interests and carries out large transnational projects.

“Currently, the work on the Southern Gas Corridor project is going on successfully,” the president said in his message. “The construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, which connects Asia and Europe, is nearing completion.”

The president also pointed to a number of significant cultural and sporting events held in Azerbaijan in recent years.

“We believe that the next World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue to be held in Azerbaijan this year and the upcoming Islamic Solidarity Games will make a great contribution to the deepening of mutual trust and the strengthening of peace and security in the world and the region,” said Ilham Aliyev.

Azerbaijan’s president expressed his confidence that the heads of state and government, businessmen taking part in the summit will hold fruitful discussions on the issues on the agenda.

“Such summits, which significantly contribute to the development of bilateral relations in Eurasia, have become a platform for effective cooperation. Global problems and issues worrying all of humanity are thoroughly discussed at summits,” Ilham Aliyev said.