On 13 July 2009, in his speech at the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London, the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, said that his country was prepared to keep the option of solving the Karabakh war through the use of force open: “Unfortunately, I cannot totally rule out a military solution, as we have the total right based on international laws to restore our territorial integrity, which no one can question…. Today Azerbaijan has powerful and modern armed forces that are capable of restoring the country’s territorial integrity”.1 Aliyev delivered this speech just three days after the meeting of the OSCE Minsk Group at L’Aquila, Italy. On that occasion, the Co-Chairs of the Group adopted a series of Basic Principles for a peaceful, political solution of the Karabakh question, and recommended the heads of state of Armenia and Azerbaijan use them during their future negotiations.