President of Azerbaijan: With Respect to peace Agreement, the Ball is on Armenian Side

“If an agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia is signed, then, of course, there will be no obstacle to the beginning of cooperation,” said President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev as he addressed an international forum themed “Facing the New World Order” at the ADA University.

“I think that we should not lose time, because, with respect to the peace agreement, the ball is on the Armenian side,” the head of state pointed out, The Caspian Post reports, citing AZERTAC.

President Aliyev stressed that Armenia, as a result of occupation and aggression, deprived itself from becoming a transit country for Azerbaijan's energy resources and transportation routes.

“And all the transit - whether it's oil, gas, or cargo - from Azerbaijan goes through Georgia. So Armenia could have been part of that process. It's their fault that they miscalculated the future development and sacrificed their economic future, their real independence to this dream of great Armenia,” he added.

“Unfortunately, Armenian occupation of Azerbaijan's territory did not allow South Caucasus to develop as more or less integrated region. We had all chances for that, but aggression and devastation and suffering of the Azerbaijani people did not allow that to happen,” he said.

“So, South Caucasus was not integrated. Though, from economic point of view and point of view of transportation routes and, of course, energy security, that could have happened. If we look at the relationship between Azerbaijan and Georgia, we will see all those segments, which I just mentioned, energy security, transportation, political dialogue, investments, economic advantages. So, Armenia actually deprived itself from that, and actually, as a result of occupation and aggression, deprived itself from becoming a transit country, important transit country for Azerbaijan's energy resources and transportation routes,” the head of state noted.

The Azerbaijani leader also stressed that attempts to build dividing lines in the Caucasus will definitely not succeed.

“With many countries Azerbaijan signed or adopted the declaration on strategic partnership. So, this already established platform allows us to play an important role of a geographical, political, economic and transportation bridge between region of Central Asia and Europe,” he said.

The head of state noted, “It's only enough to look at the map to understand that Azerbaijan cannot be avoided. Though, there are some in Europe who would prefer to separate Azerbaijan, not only from this process, but also to build the dividing lines in the Caucasus, particularly in the Southern Caucasus. These attempts will definitely not succeed.”