The prospect of cooperation, reconciliation and joint development was proposed tonight by the president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, to the Armenian residents of Nagorno-Karabakh and neighboring Armenia, after his forces brought this mountainous enclave under control.

In his televised speech, Aliyev said Azerbaijan has regained full sovereignty over its territories and now wants to integrate the population of Karabakh and turn the region into a “paradise”.

Azerbaijan, he added, has nothing against the Armenian residents of Karabakh – “they are our citizens”, he said characteristically – but only against the “criminal” leadership of the separatists.

Baku appreciates the fact that Armenia, on whose support Nagorno-Karabakh counted for three decades, did not seek to intervene in the Azeri military operation. This fact improves the prospects of peace talks, Aliyev said.

The Azeri president assured that the separatists have started handing in their weapons and abandoning their military positions, shortly after the signing of the ceasefire agreement that ended the “lightning attack” in the enclave. He added that Azeri forces “destroyed most” of the separatist forces and their equipment and “restored national sovereignty” in the region.