lham Aliyev: “We’re keeping our borders closed — and rightly so”
Aliyev on Azerbaijan’s border closure
The President of Azerbaijan responded to a question about the country’s land borders, which have remained closed since April 2020. “Our land borders are closed and should remain closed. Why? So that people don’t get sick,” Ilham Aliyev said.
He also addressed the regulation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. “If Armenia doesn’t want to withdraw its armed formations from Azerbaijani territory, then let them say it openly, so we know what to do,” the president stated. Aliyev also spoke about the promises made by the Russian side during a meeting with him regarding the withdrawal of Armenian troops from Karabakh.
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On 15 July, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev chaired a Cabinet meeting to review the first six months of the year and delivered a speech during the session.
On closed land borders
Despite the easing of almost all COVID-related restrictions introduced in early 2020, Azerbaijan’s land borders remain closed. Experts have speculated on various reasons behind this decision — ranging from political to economic motives.
President Ilham Aliyev has put an end to ongoing speculation about the reasons for Azerbaijan’s closed land borders:
“Our land borders are closed and must remain closed. Why? To stop people from getting sick. Because this illness [COVID-19] spreads most easily via land borders. That’s why we’re keeping our borders shut — and we’re right to do so.
We will keep them closed for as long as necessary — this applies to land borders. We’re doing it to protect people’s health and to avoid losing lives,” he said.
On meeting between Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers
Today, 16 July, Tbilisi hosted the first direct bilateral meeting — without mediators — between Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan. News of the meeting first surfaced only a day prior, in President Aliyev’s speech.
“Tomorrow, the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia will meet. This is the first meeting between the ministers, and we hope it will yield results, because although I have met with the Prime Minister of Armenia several times, and representatives of Azerbaijan and Armenia have met, there has not been a bilateral meeting between foreign ministers—this is the first. However, the issues under discussion are already on the negotiating table.
I believe a good outcome of this meeting could be the formation of a working group by the Armenian side, since Azerbaijan has already formed its working group to prepare a peace treaty. The members of our group have been appointed. Armenia has yet to take this step. I think this could be a positive result, and other matters could also be discussed.”
What did Russian side promise Azerbaijan?
Touching on the issue of the presence of Armenian troops in parts of Karabakh where Russian peacekeepers are stationed, Ilham Aliyev said:
“Unfortunately, even though a year and eight months have passed since the war, the negative aspects have increased. One of them is Armenia’s evasion of the commitments enshrined in the declaration signed on 10 November 2020.”
The declaration of 10 November is effectively an act of Armenia’s capitulation, and as the losing side in the war, Armenia accepted certain obligations. These obligations are clearly stated in the document.
One of them concerns the withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from Karabakh. This issue remains unresolved. We have repeatedly raised it, but Armenia continues to delay.
We have also raised this matter with the Russian military leadership, and a high-ranking representative of the Russian Defence Ministry, during a visit to Azerbaijan several months ago, promised our Ministry of Defence that the Armenian armed units would be withdrawn from Karabakh by June.
It is now mid-July, and the issue remains unresolved. Contrary to the 10 November declaration, Armenia is failing to fulfil this obligation. The Russian peacekeepers — the Russian side — also signed the 10 November declaration.
Of course, this is an intolerable situation, because the presence of Armenian armed formations on Azerbaijani territory is absolutely unacceptable. We are the victorious country, we have restored our territorial integrity. If Armenia does not want to withdraw its armed units from Azerbaijani territory, then let it say so openly, so we know what to do. What will our response be? It is probably inappropriate to say at this time.
On Zangezur Corridor
The President of Azerbaijan expressed frustration over the delays in opening regional transport links.
“According to the declaration of 10 November, a connection was supposed to be established between mainland Azerbaijan and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, and Armenia committed to this. However, we have not been granted such an opportunity so far.
The Lachin road is open. In the declaration of 10 November, we undertook the obligation to ensure the Lachin road operates, and Azerbaijan guarantees its security. We took this on as a commitment and are fulfilling it.
At the same time, we are unable to travel from mainland Azerbaijan to Nakhchivan. Not only is this impossible, but we also see no work being carried out in this direction on Armenian territory,” he stated.
