Azerbaijan rules out partial return of occupied territory

President Ilham Aliyev has always said that the country's territorial integrity will be restored and return of only part of the territory is out of the question, Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov said.

Armenian media quoted U.S. Ambassador to Yerevan John Heffern as saying that all occupied regions adjacent to Nagorno-Karabakh, except for the Lachin corridor, need be returned to Azerbaijan.

Azimov said Azerbaijan's position is that the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding regions should be vacated.

Azimov noted that some concrete steps need to be taken to find a ​​settlement to the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

He said it is important to carry out specific activities, including preparing a timetable for the liberation of the occupied territory, the transfer of control of the territory to Azerbaijan simultaneously with the withdrawal of Armenian forces from the occupied lands.

Azimov went on to say that only then, the two sides can work on final steps for a peaceful coexistence in the region.