Azerbaijani President Ilahm Aliyev touched upon the Karabakh issue in the course of his meetings with Turkish President Abdullah Gul who is presently on a visit to Baku.

The negotiations on Karabakh reached a crucial stage. The talks held within recent five-six years have led to the preparation of some proposals. These proposals have been officially presented to Armenia and Azerbaijan by the OSCE Minsk Group, Aliyev said, adding that the proposals have a balanced essence. According to him, if the proposals are accepted, the conflict can be solved peacefully and within Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, Azertag reported.

Under the proposals, Armenian forces are withdrawn from the “occupied Azerbaijani territories” and Azerbaijanis return to their native lands, Aliyev stressed. “Moreover, peacekeeping forces are deployed in the region to ensure security. Corridor between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh and other issues are envisaged. So, the essence is that the Azerbaijani territories are released from occupation, Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity is restored,” he said.

Aliyev also stressed that Azerbaijan had repeatedly stated it would never agree to any status of Nagorno-Karabakh not within Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and this conforms to norms of international law.