Aliyev: Only “first phase” of war for “primordially Azerbaijani” Nagorno-Karabakh is over

Aliyev: Only “first phase” of war for “primordially Azerbaijani” Nagorno-Karabakh is over
Ilham Aliyev seen voting during the April polling day on which he was re-elected president.
By bne IntelliNews June 27, 2018

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on June 26 described the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region as "primordially Azerbaijani territory" and said Baku will never accept its "occupation", RFE/RL reported. His tough talk came at a military parade marking what the government considers the 100th anniversary of Azerbaijan's armed forces.

"We are for the peaceful resolution of the [Nagorno-Karabakh] conflict but [Armenia] has to understand that there is no military or strategic object that the Azerbaijani Army is unable to destroy," Aliyev said.

"The war is not over. Only its first phase has ended," he said.

Nagorno-Karabakh and adjacent territory is held by ethnic Armenian forces.

Nagorno-Karabakh, internationally recognised as still part of Azerbaijan, was seized by Armenian-backed forces during a war that killed more than 30,000 people before a 1994 ceasefire.

Sporadic fighting continues. Three decades of diplomatic efforts have delivered little in resolving the dispute beteen Baku and Yerevan.

"International law does not work, because if it did, we [would have] liberated our occupied territories long ago," Aliyev added.

Azerbaijan displayed its Belarusian-made Polonez and Israeli-made LORA missiles in the military display.

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