BAKU. Oct 7 (Interfax) - Turkey can and should participate in the political and post-conflict settlement of the Karabakh conflict, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said.
"As for my statement on Turkey's involvement, naturally, I implied nothing but a political settlement, the post-conflict settlement process. Turkey is absolutely not an involved party at this point," Aliyev said in an interview with Russia's Channel One.
"When the phase of military confrontation is over, we will of course return to the negotiating table. Ever since the hostilities began, Azerbaijan has been saying that we are not withdrawing from the negotiating process, that we do count on a political settlement, but this has to be a settlement. We cannot sit and wait for another 30 years for due pressure to be put on Armenia," he said.
"No doubt Turkey, as a great country and our Southern Caucasus neighbor, has every right to take part in the mediating mission, which will be carried out when the fighting ends. And given that the current mediation mission has, over the past 28 years, has resulted in nothing except either inaction and what we are seeing now, of course the approach should be pragmatic. And who exactly can really have positive influence on the events in the region to reduce escalation, to establish a lasting peace, to develop cooperation? Of course, I think, that is primarily Turkey and Russia," the president said.