Azerbaijani President says nation must prepare for war with Armenia

“Azerbaijan is ready to restore its territorial intergrity by military means any time,” said Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliev at a ceremony commemorating the 91st anniversary of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces.

“Azerbaijan has military formations capable of carrying out any mission. If necessary, Azerbaijan can use its military power to restore its territorial integrity, and it is our sovereign right. International law allows us to do it," the president said.

“We live in a state of war, thus our primary goal is and should be the strengthening of our army. With the war still going on and only its first stage over, we are continuing our efforts to be ready to free our motherland from the enemy by military means at any time,” Aliev claimed.

"Azerbaijan has repeatedly expressed its readiness to reach a peaceful solution of the conflict [in the Nagorno-Karabakh] through negotiations," he said. However, because “the talks that have been going on for 15 years since the ceasefire have so far proved fruitless, we are relying mostly on our army."

According to Aliev this is the reason why Azerbaijan has been consistently building up its military potential in recent years.  

Azerbaijan’s economy has been successfully developing through the current crisis, Aliev added. “Unlike some other countries who depend on foreign aid, we are able to survive without foreign countries’ charitable assistance. Thanks to our strenghthened economic potential, we have succeeded in creating a strong army," he said.

Aliev is sure that international law takes Azerbaijan’s side in the Nagorno-Karabakh issue and that major international organizations decisions and resolutions reflect Azerbaijan’s position.

The Nagorno-Karabakh War was the armed conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia, two countries in the South Caucasus; the war began in 1988. Nagorno-Karabakh is a landlocked region in the area, which is mostly mountainous and afforested and covers 8,223 square kilometers. It is de jure part of Azerbaijan, but de facto governed by the internationally unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. Despite the ceasefire signed in 1994, fatalities due to armed conflicts between Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers have continued.

As of August 2008, the United States, France, and Russia (the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group) are mediating efforts to resolve the conflict.