“It is time to settle conflicts according to the principles of territorial integrity, including the Armenian-Azeri conflict. We are attaching big importance to the territorial integrity, we believe the Azeri lands have been “occupied” and it is important to liberate these lands, we believe it is time to settle the conflict through dialogue, negotiations and diplomatic methods, thus resulting in peace in the Caucasus. Certainly it is possible to reach this goal through stopping the “occupation”, said the Turkish president Abdullah Gull at the summit of Turkish speaking countries in Nakhijevan on Saturday. He also said that from this point of view the meeting of the Armenian and Azeri presidents in Moldova would be very important. “Aliyev said that he received a positive impression from the approaches of Russia and the US to the issue of the conflict settlement. The Azeri side is happy that the issue is discussed at a high level. Everyone knows that it is important to settle the conflict of Karabakh in order to develop relations with Armenia. We have very favorable positions to go out of the deadlock. Hence this issue is not frozen any more and should move forward,” said Gull.
Concerning the importance of the Turkish-Azeri border Gull said, “The Turkish-Azeri border is not long and it is about 10-12 kilometers, however from the political point of view it is very important. This border is the symbolic connecting point between the Turkish states. ” Following this statement Aliyev said, “Nakhijevan is the only region connects us with Turkey. The separation of a historical part of Azerbaijan, the region of Zangezur and connection with Armenia has separated the big Turkish family, as a result of which during several dozens of years it stopped to be a family, however today we are improving our connections and even though Zangezur is still in Armenia, the Turkish unity is a fact already.” By the way, Aliyev also said that the process of the conflict settlement is in the final phase. “There is positive dynamics in the process of the conflict settlement and I can say it is in the final phase of settlement. The conflict of Karabakh can be settled only according to the principle of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity… This conflict is a big problem not for Azerbaijan only, but the entire region, and it is a big obstacle for the region’s development.”