BAKU (Itar-Tass)–Azerbaijan will be observing the Karabakh cease-fire strictly–until a comprehensive settlement of the conflict is reached–Azerbaijan’s President Haydar Aliyev stated on Wednesday in connection with the fifth anniversary of the cease-fire in the zone of the armed conflict.
At the same time–Aliyev said that a cease-fire did not amount to peace and that Azerbaijan cannot be satisfied with the situation of "neither war nor peace," when up to 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s territory is still occupied.
Aliyev pledged that Azerbaijan will continue doing its utmost to achieve a peaceful settlement of the Karabakh problem through talks in the framework of the Minsk group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
Aliyev said that the basis for the resolution of the conflict is the recognition of territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and Armenia–granting a high degree of autonomy to Nagorno-Karabakh within the Azeri state and guaranteeing security for the entire population of the region.
