BAKU (AP) - Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliev said Monday that his country must strengthen its military in order to gain leverage in its talks with Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave.
"Our success in the negotiation process will depend on how strong our army is," Aliev said at a dedication ceremony for a new army unit in near the country's border with Armenia.
He told the servicemen at the ceremony to be ready "to liberate land" from separatists in Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian enclave in Azerbaijan.
At the same time, Aliev said he would do everything possible to bring about a peaceful end to the conflict. He said he would soon hold talks with Armenian President Robert Kocharian.
Nagorno-Karabakh has been under control of ethnic Armenian separatists since 1994, the end of a war that killed some 30,000 people and forced about a million to flee their homes. Violence erupts around the enclave occasionally, and peace negotiations have stalled.
"Our success in the negotiation process will depend on how strong our army is," Aliev said at a dedication ceremony for a new army unit in near the country's border with Armenia.
He told the servicemen at the ceremony to be ready "to liberate land" from separatists in Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian enclave in Azerbaijan.
At the same time, Aliev said he would do everything possible to bring about a peaceful end to the conflict. He said he would soon hold talks with Armenian President Robert Kocharian.
Nagorno-Karabakh has been under control of ethnic Armenian separatists since 1994, the end of a war that killed some 30,000 people and forced about a million to flee their homes. Violence erupts around the enclave occasionally, and peace negotiations have stalled.