Armenian occupation of Azerbaijan's territory prevented development of South Caucasus

“Unfortunately, the Armenian occupation of Azerbaijan's territory did not allow the South Caucasus to develop as a 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,” Azernews reports that President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, said in his address at the international forum themed “Facing the New World Order”.

“So, South Caucasus was not integrated. Though, from an economic point of view and the 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 that I just mentioned: energy security, transportation, political dialogue, investments, and economic advantages. So, Armenia actually deprived itself of that, and actually, as a result of occupation and aggression, deprived itself from becoming a transit country, an important transit country for Azerbaijan's energy resources and transportation routes,” the head of state noted.