[Iran Press TV Latest] Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has said that Baku does not want war, but cannot tolerate the occupation of Armenia in its land.
Speaking in the northern district of Qabala on Saturday, Aliyev said Azerbaijan would continue its efforts to resolve the Karabakh dispute with Armenia, stressing that this can only be achieved when Armenia recognizes Azerbaijan's territorial integrity.
It has been almost 21 years since the Republic of Azerbaijan and Armenia engaged in an armed conflict over the 4400-square-kilometer (1,700-square-mile) mountainous Karabakh region.
After six years of intensive fighting, about 20 percent of Azerbaijan's land, including seven towns surrounding Karabakh, was occupied; up to one million Azerbaijanis were displaced and some 40,000 people from both sides were killed.
The conflict, known as the Nagorno-Karabakh war, which broke out in February 1988, ended in a ceasefire on May 16, 1994, but there has been no agreement so far to turn the ceasefire into a permanent peace treaty.
"We want our historically and internationally recognized lands to be freed and our citizens returned to their homes," Aliyev said.
"We are being told that the problem must be solved peacefully. This is what we also support. But no one must forget that the Armenians occupied these lands in military ways, not peacefully," he added.
"Armenians must unconditionally withdraw from our lands. And only after that should cooperation and peace be established."
Earlier Saturday, at a meeting with the French ambassador, Azerbaijani Defense Minister Safar Abiyev said, "If Armenia does not free Azerbaijani occupied territories; a war in the South Caucasus is inevitable,"
Abiyev said diplomats have failed to achieve results for 15 years in negotiations.
"Azerbaijan will not be able to wait 15 more years. Now the war is inevitable and the threat is gradually approaching," Abiyev said.
Azerbaijani Presidential Administration senior official Ali Hasanov noted that Aliyev has repeatedly stated that he considers the potential of negotiations on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement still viable.
"Therefore, Azerbaijan continues its efforts in this direction. However the president also repeatedly pointed out that as soon as Azerbaijan feels that the potential for negotiations has been exhausted, the country will take steps to restore its territorial integrity, sovereignty and violated rights through all possible means." Hasanov said.
"OSCE MG [Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Minsk Group] co-chairs have submitted proposals to both republics and the sides exchanges views on this," Hasanov said.
"However, the negotiating parties have not provided enough information. I do not have extensive information on what will be the follow-up processes or at what stage they are expected to coordinate these proposals."
The OSCE MG, co-chaired by the United States, France and Russia, was established in 1992 to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict but has so far failed to resolve the long-standing dispute. 
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