In an interview with Al Jazeera, President Aliyev went on to say that once the war is over “maybe some time later people of Azerbaijan and Armenia can again live together, in peace.”
The neighboring countries have long been at odds over the mountainous territory — which is situated within the borders of Azerbaijan — and fought a war over it that ended in 1994.
Although the conflict finished with a Russian-brokered cease-fire, military skirmishes between the two sides are not uncommon.
But both Azerbaijan and Turkey have denied the presence of Syrian rebels in the conflict — something that Aliyev maintained in his Al Jazeera interview, adamant that no such fighters were in the country.
Aliyev urged French President Emmanuel Macron to provide proof that Syrian mercenaries were fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh, saying, “He made the statements without any evidence. Let him give us evidence. Let him give us proof.”
In a statement released Saturday, the Armenian Foreign Ministry warned: “The political-military leadership of Azerbaijan will pay a high price for committing such grave crimes against the Armenians of Artsakh, for importing terrorists to the region and for undermining the regional security.”
