Azerbaijan thankful for Turkish support

Deniz Çiyan - ISTANBUL

Azerbaijan has shown that it is a strong country by responding to the heated conflict with Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, according to the country’s energy minister, who added that Azerbaijan’s main aim was to solve the dispute with diplomatic efforts.“Armenian aggressors have attacked Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijan army together with the Azerbaijani nation has responded [to these attacks] in a way it deserved,” Azerbaijani Energy Minister Natiq Aliyev told Hürriyet Daily News on April 6, on the sidelines of the 19th Eurasian Economic Summit organized by the Marmara Group Foundation.“With this action, Azerbaijan has shown that it is a strong country,” he added.Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a war over the mountainous territory, with a population of mostly ethnic Armenians, in the early 1990s, during which thousands were killed on both sides, and hundreds of thousands were displaced.The region was seized by Armenian rebels from Azerbaijan in a war which ended with an inconclusive truce in 1994. The territory is now ruled by Armenia-backed separatist authorities who claim independence and are backed by Yerevan but are not recognized by any state.“We do not want war; this has been the situation for the past 25 years. We want that this process is solved through peace and diplomacy. But Armenia, as an aggressor of the conflict, does not stand close to these attempts [and] does not listen to them,” said Aliyev. Commenting on whether or not the cease-fire declared by Azerbaijan and the rebels in the Nagorno-Karabakh region on April 5 would last, Aliyev said he could not speak with certainty but reminded that Azerbaijan had put forth one clause for a cease-fire to stand.“We said that the truce will stand in place if they [Armenia] stay in their place and engage in constructive dialogue,” said Aliyev, adding that their main aim was the freeing of Nagorno-Karabakh.“[Our aim is that] our lands which have been held are to be returned to us,” he added.Azerbaijan is very thankful that Turkey has stood together with the country in the heated conflict with Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, Aliyev said.Aliyev personally expressed his gratitude to the Turkish nation and the president and prime minister of the state for standing beside Azerbaijan in the heated conflict.“As an Azerbaijani citizen, I express my gratitude to the Turkish nation, President [Recep Tayyip Erdoğan] and Prime Minister [Ahmet Davutoğlu],” said Aliyev.