Araz News: Armenian president said at the press conference with president of the European Council that Azerbaijan is far from democracy. He can’t talk about democracy, because he was just appointed by former president in 2008, though they allegedly conducted elections, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said on July 22 during a joint press conference with President of the European Council Donald Tusk,the Azerbaijan Press Agency reported.

The head of state recalled that people were killed during “elections” held in Armenia in 2008.

“So this person shouldn’t speak about it at all. As for putting Armenia and Azerbaijan on the same scales, I think that such an accusation from Azerbaijan would have been more natural. The international community must clearly distinguish between occupier and the country that was subjected to occupation. Currently we are discussing the format of negotiations in order to achieve a peaceful settlement of the conflict. However, the causes of the conflict shouldn’t be forgotten. Armenian separatists attacked Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh with the support of the Armenian side, and Azerbaijanis became the first victims of the conflict. The occupation resulted in ethnic cleansing and Khojaly genocide. 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory was occupied. And it is very clear that the large part of the Azerbaijani territory is under occupation of Armenia. The Azerbaijani people were expelled from there. They destroyed our historical and religious monuments. By the way, all these are reflected in the reports of the two OSCE fact-finding missions. And now they accuse Azerbaijan of blockading. They blame Azerbaijan for xenophobia. Unlike Armenia, Azerbaijan is a multi-ethnic, multi-confessional country. How can it be possible that 99 percent of a country’s population belong to a nation? Azerbaijan proudly expresses that it is a multi-ethnic country. Azerbaijan rejoices at it. Members of all religions and confessions reside in Azerbaijan. They are citizens of Azerbaijan”, the president noted.

The president once again stressed that a distinction should be made between the one who are subjected to aggression and the aggressor. “The aggressor should be brought to justice. Keeping the lands under occupation, Armenia isolates itself from the regional cooperation, Azerbaijan and its neighbors. As a result, comprehensive poverty emerges in Armenia. More than 50 percent of Armenia’s population lives below the poverty line. This is the result of the aggression and occupation. If the Armenian leadership is far-sighted, it will finally understand that Armenia’s future will be in question unless it normalizes relations with its neighbors.”