The latest statement voiced from the US simply supports the occupation policy of Armenia, said Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev.

Ilham Aliyev made the remarks in his opening speech during a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers dedicated to results of socio-economic development in nine months of 2016 and tasks for the future.

“You have probably heard and read about the latest statement voiced from the US. Azerbaijani public knows about this as well. To put it mildly, this is a surprising statement. It is at least unfair to put blame on Azerbaijan for the conflict not being resolved,” said the president.

“How does this statement agree with other statements?!” said the president, reminding that there is a thesis that has been several times voiced by the presidents of the US, Russia and France, which says that “the status-quo is unacceptable.”

“We laud this. It is true that no practical work is being conducted despite this thesis, but anyway, the emergence of this thesis is our great success,” he said. “With the existence of such a serious statement, saying ‘both sides are guilty, the sides are not ready for this, this issue is complicated even more than the Palestine-Israel conflict’ is simply a support to the occupation policy of Armenia. There is no other explanation for this.”

“It is true that there are various statements nowadays, they are ripped out of the context and are not understood correctly. We understand everything very well. We live in the age of internet. When something is said somewhere, it immediately echoes. We don’t accept such statements,” said President Aliyev.

“We believe these statements should be corrected soon at the highest level,” he added. “Otherwise, the mediating mission can be called into doubt.”

He also said the statement from the US was a thesis voiced only officially.

“There are so many talks behind the closed doors. We face so many pressures for Azerbaijan to give its consent on independence of the Nagorno-Karabakh. We don’t announce them, because diplomacy has its own rules,” said Ilham Aliyev.

He also mentioned the smear, slander and insult campaigns conducted by the Western media and non-governmental organizations, as well as the instructions given to the fifth column in Azerbaijan to use those campaigns against the country. The president said the reason for all this is to make Azerbaijan give its consent on the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh.

“This will never happen. As long as we are governing the country – and the referendum showed that we will govern it for a long time – Azerbaijan will not agree with this. Nagorno-Karabakh is our inseparable historical land and we have to restore our territorial integrity,” added President Aliyev.