The RA foreign office is not surprised at Azeri President Ilham Aliev’s statements. "It would have been strange if, going against the tradition, Mr. Aliev had not made a regular statement to obstruct any progress in the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process on the threshold of a possible meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani Foreign Ministers in Almaty, stated RA Deputy FM Shavarsh Kocharyan.

"When the President, who inherited power and made it unchallenged under the Constitution, claims that the Azerbaijan is a state built up with the best European practices, any comment is superfluous," Sh. Kocharyan said.

At the Azerbaijani Government’s sitting on July 13, Ilham Aliev stated that the international mediators see Nagorno-Karabakh’s status only within Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity. Nagorno-Karabakh cannot get any status without Azerbaijan’s consent. The Azerbaijani people will never allow Nagorno-Karabakh to be separated. Neither Armenia nor the Karabakh separatists have the right to determine its status. Only the Azerbaijani people has this right, Aliev said.

The Azeri leader then resorted to his favorite militant rhetoric. He stressed that "Azerbaijan’s military might is a decisive factor in negotiations over Nagorno-Karabakh. Any moment we must be ready to liberate our lands from occupants."