Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev spoke to FRANCE 24 from the country's capital of Baku while the conflict between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh continues to escalate. Aliyev denied any deliberate attack on civilians from Azerbaijan’s side and described reports of Turkish military involvement as “fake news”.
In his interview with FRANCE 24, Aliyev claimed Azerbaijani military forces never “deliberately’ attacked civilians", and said he regretted "Armenia’s tactic" of "installing military equipment in areas and cities where people live". He accused the Armenian side of "violating every day" the recently brokered truce between the two countries, adding that a "ceasefire cannot be achieved unilaterally".
He denied any direct Turkish involvement in the conflict, while acknowledging that the Turkish drones deployed by the Azerbaijani army are "making a difference" on the ground.
The Azerbaijani president said he fully "supported" France’s "neutrality" in the ongoing war in its position as a co-chair of the Minsk Group, and described his last conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron as “very positive”.
Click on the video player above to watch the full interview.
