President Aliyev: Lack of int'l pressure on Armenia may lead to unpredictable consequences [UPDATE]

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has said that lack of international response to Armenian provocations leads to very dangerous steps and may have unpredictable consequences.

Aliyev made the remarks on September 25 while receiving EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus Toivo Klaar.

“Armenians completely ignore the norms of international law and commit crimes. The reason they are able to do this is that there is no-one to stop them. The Minsk Group co-chairs do not stop them,” said Ilham Aliyev.

The president stressed that the statements of the Minsk Group that is mediating the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenian are not directly aimed at anyone.

“Azerbaijan has not taken any provocative steps. We did not attack them at the state border, we did not send a sabotage group, we did not announce the creation of a volunteer army, we did not commit any other provocations. All provocations are committed by Armenia, and they are doing it deliberately, they are demonstrating it. The lack of international pressure on them – which I have repeatedly raised in meetings with the Minsk Group co-chairs – leads to very dangerous steps and may have unpredictable consequences,” the president said.

Aliyev said that the decision to hold the swearing-in ceremony for the so-called leader of the criminal junta in Shusha, an ancient historical city of Azerbaijan, was another deliberate act of provocation.

The president also spoke about the illegal settlement of Armenians in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

“This is a flagrant violation of international law. This is a violation of the Geneva Convention and it is a crime. They are moving Armenians from Lebanon to Shusha and other occupied territories. They demonstrate it, they show it on TV and on the Internet. As a matter of fact, they completely ignore the norms of international law and commit crimes. The reason they are able to do this is that there is no-one to stop them.”