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Apa.Az (22 October 2017)

For over 25 years Armenia is holding the historical lands of Azerbaijan - Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts under occupation, said Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

 “An ethnic cleansing policy was carried out in the occupied Azerbaijani lands, and more than a million of our compatriots became refugees and internally displaced persons in these territories,” President Aliyev said addressing the 9th Summit of the Developing Eight Organization for Economic Cooperation (D-8) in Istanbul on Oct. 20, APA reported.

The president also touched upon the Khojaly genocide committed by Armenians in 1992. 

 “As a result of this genocide, 613 Azerbaijani civilians, including 106 women and 63 children were killed. Thousands of people went missing and wounded,” he added.

President Aliyev recalled that the UN Security Council adopted for resolutions on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

 “These resolutions require the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from Azerbaijani territories,” he said. “At the same time, the Non-Aligned Movement, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the OSCE and other organizations adopted similar decisions and resolutions. But the occupying Armenia ignores them and continues to commit military crimes against the Azerbaijani civilians.”

The head of state noted that Azerbaijani civilians and servicemen were killed as a result of Armenia’s armed provocation on the contact line of troops in April last year.

 “Hundreds of houses were destroyed. Azerbaijan resolutely prevented this provocation of Armenia, and our army liberated some of our territories from Armenian occupiers. After that, Jojug Marjanli village, which was completely destroyed by Armenia, was rebuilt. A school, a medical center and a mosque were built in this village which consists of 150 houses. This mosque is similar to the Shusha Mosque destroyed by Armenians,” he added.

President Aliyev emphasized that Nagorno-Karabakh is a historical land of Azerbaijan.

The head of state stressed that the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should be resolved on the basis of the UN Security Council resolutions and within the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

 “The state and people of Azerbaijan will never allow a second Armenian state to be established in its ancient lands,” the president said adding that Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity can not be a matter of discussions.

Azerbaijan considers Islamic solidarity particularly important and contributes to it, the president said, recalling that 2017 was declared a “Year of Islamic Solidarity” in Azerbaijan.

 “Along with this, this year Azerbaijan hosted the 4th Islamic Solidarity Games that brought together 3,000 athletes from 54 Muslim countries,” he added.

The head of state noted that Azerbaijan is seriously fighting against Islamophobia, one of the most serious threats in the world today.

 “Armenia, which is trying to pretend to be a friend of Muslim countries, destroyed mosques and religious monuments in Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding areas,” President Aliyev said stressing that the country that destroys mosques can never be a friend of Muslim states.