Ilham Aliyev: "We will resent any Nagorno-Karabakh status that does not fall in line with Azeri territorial integrity"

Interview of Ilham Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan, given to Interfax in Baku.

- Mr. President, you will attend the NATO summit in Bucharest, Romania this April. What will Azerbaijan’s policy towards NATO be?

- As far as the NATO summit in Bucharest is concerned, I indeed received an invitation, and I am going to attend, just as other leaders of the former Soviet republics. Particularly as far as I know, the leaders of the [Collective Security Treaty Organization] CSTO member states also plan to take part in the summit. This will not be the first ever participation in NATO summits, and this does not indicate the aspiration of a country to secure the membership in this organization. We have been cooperating with NATO for quite a long time. The partnership started with the Partnership for Peace (PfP) program. Now we have switched to the Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP).

We participate in peacekeeping operations in Afghanistan. Our peacekeepers took part in the Kosovo [operation] until recently; however, after the political situation in this region changed, the parliament backed my motion to withdraw our peacekeepers from Kosovo. Cooperation with NATO is rather positive. It allows us to reform this sphere, and we hail the present day level of cooperation.

Azerbaijan proceeds from the fact that mutual consent should be a base for the membership in any organization. We do not plan to interfere with anyone. Our cooperation with the European Union has also been efficient. Azerbaijan, as well as other Southern Caucasian nations, is implementing the EU’s New Neighborhood Policy program. But again, as to European integration: if such an initiative comes from the organization, we will of course look into this issue. If not, we do not want to interfere with anyone.

We ensure our security ourselves. We are a self-sufficient nation from the economic, political, and energy viewpoints. That is why we proceed from the fact that relationships should be based on the principles of equality, mutual respect and mutual interests. As of today we are satisfied with the level of cooperation with NATO.

It is hard to tell what will come next, how the situation in the world will evolve, and what processes will be underway in our region. That is why given the present-day situation, the issues of Azerbaijan’s entry to NATO is not on the agenda.

- What is your assessment of the condition of the Azeri Armed Forces?

- You know, our military expenditures sometimes escape the general framework of budgetary expenditures, and this is not quite an honest approach. We always advocate objectiveness. I must say that Azeri budgetary expenditures grew ten times, from $1.3 billion in 2003 to $12 billion of the consolidated budget in 2008, in the past four years. This is unique. We plan to ask the parliament this spring to review the budget. It is no surprise that Azerbaijan’s military spending has grown significantly over the past four years. It was $1 billion in 2007 and it will be $1.3 in 2008 – but this is for now, because we plan to increase them.

So, this is an objective process. The same can be witnessed in education. We spend $1 billion on education; while far less was spent four years ago. This all happens given the economic condition of the country. In addition, we are at war with Armenia; our lands are occupied. The talks, which we have been in for more than ten years, have been futile. One can speak about some positive aspects as to the rapprochement of the positions. However, I do not say that the negotiating process has exhausted itself. There have been positive aspects; we have advanced as to some provisions, primarily as to Armenia’s understanding that the occupied territories must be liberated and that the issue must be solved within the framework of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity only.

Although some Armenian politicians attempt from time to time to pervert the essence of the negotiating process and a draft pattern of the final settlement, it is still as follows: the liberation of seven occupied territories, the return of all refugees and displaced people and the further resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh status issue. The future will show what the status will be. But we will resent any status that does not fall in line with Azeri territorial integrity. That is why the situation, in which we have found ourselves today, as well as the occupation of our territories push us to boost military expenditures – the thing we have been doing.

There are CSTO member states among the countries we buy arms from. And naturally, we buy equipment and arms in other countries. We have recently established the Defense Industry Ministry and set about producing military products, and we will be producing more of them. Naturally, with today’s large financial resources, we can create new enterprises. We are setting up new enterprises in the metallurgy and aluminum industry. Many billions [dollars] will be spent on these goals. Similar processes have begun in other industries. We have been creating and we will create a powerful military and industrial complex that will ensure our security in the future.

- Your comments on the recent UN resolution on Karabakh

- We view this resolution as another diplomatic and political success of Azerbaijan. Once again the United Nations, the largest and the most important international organization, confirmed the principles that should be the base for the resolution of the Armenian-Azeri – the Nagorno-Karabakh – conflict. These are the inviolability of borders, territorial integrity, the return of all refugees and displaced people, who were expelled as a result of ethnic cleansings by Armenia, to their lands of origins, and the conflict resolution within the framework of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity. This means that the [UN] resolution is fully compliant with all norms and principles of the international law and, from my point of view, fully reflects the spirit and the essence of the negotiations.

We are very happy about the fact that the resolution was adopted. And we did not doubt this. Of course, we are thankful to all countries that supported us. As to the EU member states, as far as we know the EU members came up with a consolidated decision to abstain. This happened, because the EU is an organization of high discipline, including in foreign political affairs.

We are surprised by the position of the countries voting against the resolution; so much more the co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group – France, Russia and the United States, the mediators in the conflict – were among them. The explanation of positions after the vote by official representatives of these countries was positive. The co-chairmen of the Minsk Group confirmed Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity. They once again stated that they do not recognize the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh. Generally, this position was known before. We consider this as an attempt to widen the sad sediment, which naturally deposited in the heart of the Azeri people, as a result of this move during the vote. It is hard to understand, and it was not, I think, well thought out.

I believe that these countries should have abstained since they are mediators. We did not count on the fact that they would vote in favor, but thought they would abstain. Of course given this situation, the future talks will in particular depend on the level of trust between the parties to the talks and the mediators.