December 25, 2006 - 13:01 AMT
Ilham Aliyev: Baku Will Fight for Karabakh Even "By Force"
Azerbaijan will never agree to grant sovereignty to Nagorno Karabakh and will "struggle for the region even by force", Azeri President Ilham Aliyev told Echo of Moscow. "We have always eyed the Minsk Group as a unified constitution and I should mention that the latest period of its activities is remarkable for attempts to find ways of settlement. This fact may be described as one of those remaining elements of joint work of the Group," he remarked adding that the level of cooperation between the three states has considerable lowered lately. "In some cases it's very serious. Within the framework of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement France, Russia and the U.S. demonstrate cohesion. We respect the states which try to find a solution to the conflict. But this is our problem and we should not burden it with anyone else. On the other hand, it's our land, our territory. We should be strong. We should strengthen our economy and army. We should be more active at the diplomatic front. We should become and are becoming a more significant state than Armenia and should overweight the Armenian lobby. Armenia as a state is not a rival for us. As a mater of fact it's not Armenia that we struggle with. But for the Armenian lobby the issue would be settled soon and simply," the Azeri President said.