The President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliev, spoke with France 24 from Baku about the conflict between Baku and Yerevan in the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Assuring that the Azerbaijani army had never "deliberately" targeted civilians in this enclave with the predominantly Armenian population, he accuses Yerevan of deliberately installing military equipment in inhabited areas.
He says Armenian forces "violate every day" the recently signed ceasefire between the two parties after negotiations conducted under the aegis of Moscow.
Ilham Aliev warns the Armenian forces, urging them not to "try to reconquer liberated territories", in order to avoid a "bloodbath".
He denies any direct Turkish military involvement, however acknowledging the effectiveness of Turkish drones bought in Ankara and deployed by Baku.
He finally welcomes the neutrality of the head of French diplomacy, Jean-Yves Le Drian, and his regular exchanges with Paris, qualifying his last conversation with President Emmanuel Macron as "very positive".
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