Independent Azerbaijan, living in the most powerful period of its history, is a masterpiece of the Great Leader Heydar Aliyev, who years ago defined this ideology, a new concept of rise. It is a work that is born today like the Sun, which gave voice to the world with its independent policy, economic power and the strength of its victorious army. The Great Leader wished us these happy days, and this greatness probably delights the immortal soul of the genius.
The formation of modern Azerbaijani society, the establishment of an independent Azerbaijani state is directly connected with the name of the Great Leader Heydar Aliyev. Just as the National Leader is proud to be an Azerbaijani, every Azerbaijani today is proud to be a citizen of an independent, developed Azerbaijan, the greatest work of Heydar Aliyev.
Author of the Development Manifesto
Great Leader Heydar Aliyev, who was distinguished in world politics by his signature and distinguished by his phenomenal talent among heads of state, is still an example as a symbol of wisdom. This courage and determination, steadfastness and pride of the leaders raised the image and prestige of Azerbaijan as a bright expression of the realization of the life of the genius, the founder of modern Azerbaijan.
Along with a favorable political environment and national will, the presence of a strong leader is an important condition for the realization of the centuries-old traditions of statehood of each nation in a concrete state model. A nation that does not have a strong, determined, patriotic and wise leader cannot achieve its independence, even within the real possibilities. Exactly 99 years ago, God Himself gave our genius Heydar Aliyev to our people in order to realize the highest goals of the Azerbaijani people, such as freedom, independence and national statehood. Dedicating his life to the bright future of his people and state, the Great Leader’s genius, unique leadership qualities, ability to direct political processes, ability to unite the interests of society in common have won the sympathy and trust of the Azerbaijani people at all stages of government.
The charismatic personalities of their time rose to the top of leadership thanks to their ability to correctly identify solutions to the tasks facing the people in difficult times, to mobilize people around national goals, to persevere in the implementation of their progressive ideas. Against the background of these realities, the exceptional place and role of the great personality Heydar Aliyev in the history of Azerbaijan, the great personality that our people gave to world politics in the twentieth century, stands out.
The life and activity of the national leader Heydar Aliyev as a capable and experienced statesman, a wise politician, a powerful person who created a strong foundation of statehood, strengthened it and led it to the path of sustainable development is a very important stage of our modern history. The development strategy defined by Heydar Aliyev was the most reliable guarantee for the comprehensive development of independent Azerbaijan.
The National Leader, who was nominated to the post of supreme leader of Soviet Azerbaijan on July 14, 1969, tried to awaken the national consciousness of the people by removing the ideological barriers of the center from the first days and used all opportunities for the future independence of the Azerbaijani people. It is safe to say that the radical changes that took place in all spheres of life in 1969-1982 are the most comprehensive pages in the history of Azerbaijan’s development in terms of the scale of landscaping and construction work.
From the first day, the national leader wisely stated that without achieving political stability, it is impossible to achieve the transition to a new system of governance, the application of fundamental principles such as market economy and democracy. As a great strategist, Heydar Aliyev took into account the specifics of the national mentality of the people when determining the priority areas of development of national statehood in Azerbaijan.
Being the bearer of ideas and principles that changed the course of history, Heydar Aliyev’s unique managerial qualities, charismatic leadership, great patriotism have played an unprecedented role in ensuring the rise of the national idea since the 70s of the last century. The most important feature of the leadership of the national leader was that Azerbaijan entered a new stage of development in all areas, in the true sense of the word, lived its own renaissance.
Thanks to the wise and far-sighted leadership of the Great Leader, independent Azerbaijan has become a country that acts as a reliable center of partnership and stability in foreign policy, taking decisive steps towards economic and social prosperity, and forming a “state-citizen” union.
Savior and great strategist
The National Leader, who prepared a real political, legal and economic basis for the realization of the people’s feelings of independence and freedom with his multifaceted steps serving the national interests during his first leadership in Azerbaijan, was also at the center of complex socio-political processes. Although Azerbaijan regained its independence in October 1991, the crisis and chaos in all spheres of society were resolved only after the Great Leader returned to power at the insistence of the people.
Since the second half of 1993, the confident steps taken under the leadership of National Leader Heydar Aliyev to build a democratic, legal and secular state, the socio-economic reforms have accelerated the formation of the national development model of our republic.
In June 1993, responding to the call of the people, the Great Leader took the helm of Azerbaijan, resolutely overcame the difficulties, obstacles and coup attempts, and saved our people from civil war, the threat of losing national independence, chaos and chaos. With the election of Heydar Aliyev as President of Azerbaijan on October 3, 1993, the foundation of a new period in the life of our country was laid.
After the change of the legitimate government that took place in the country by the will of the people, there are real grounds for the independence of the state to manifest itself in practice. After the election of Heydar Aliyev as President, the process of ensuring the legal and political-economic sovereignty of the independent Azerbaijani state began. First of all, the Great Leader had to work hard to restore socio-political stability in the country. Illegal armed groups have been neutralized, and socio-political stability has been established in the society as the most important factor leading to the socio-economic growth of Azerbaijan.
As a logical consequence of the great leader’s political foresight, principledness and demonstration of will, the transformation of the “Contract of the Century” from myth to reality in 1994 gave impetus to the development of all strategically important areas of the country. The unparalleled importance of the signing of the “Treaty of the Century” in national development is even more obvious against the background of today’s intensive socio-economic development. The essence of this strategy, which has brought greater success to Azerbaijan in recent years, is based on the more successful use of the country’s natural resources for the benefit of the Azerbaijani people.
One of the great services of the national leader Heydar Aliyev to the statehood of Azerbaijan was the preparation of the first Constitution of our independent republic on the basis of high democratic criteria and its adoption by popular vote. Along with defining the country’s future development priorities, our Constitution has created a legal basis for ensuring human rights and freedoms, as well as social rights, and the realization of the concept of the social state in general. It was stated that the state of Azerbaijan cares for the welfare of every citizen, his social protection and a decent standard of living.
On the other hand, with the use of all political and diplomatic means, a vital ceasefire was reached in May 1994 in the former Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The vital importance of the ceasefire was that under the leadership of the National Leader, intensive work was carried out to resolve the then Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and a number of important results were achieved. The fact of military aggression of the Armenian armed forces against Azerbaijan has been repeatedly condemned by international organizations, and a number of resolutions have been adopted in protest.
After the signing of the ceasefire agreement, the building of the army in Azerbaijan was accelerated, the material and technical support of the Armed Forces was improved, attention was paid to increasing the moral and psychological training of personnel and raising the fighting spirit. Also, under the leadership of the Great Leader, large-scale reforms were launched in the field of army building, and the formation of military units and separate types of troops was completed in a short period of time. Officers who held the statehood and military oath and were honored to be in the military were involved in the leadership of military units. In addition, the centralized logistics of the army has been significantly improved, financial and economic activities have been regulated, the morale and morale of the personnel have been raised, and finally, the Armed Forces have a perfect legislative framework. In short, it was the National Leader Heydar Aliyev’s national army building that entered a qualitatively new stage, and a regular army subordinated to a single command was formed in a short period of time.
Great Leader Heydar Aliyev, who created the perfect basic principles of statehood in 1993-2003, pursued a successful domestic and foreign policy, putting an end to incompetence, indecision and simplicity in governance, forcing the world’s superpowers to reckon with Azerbaijan. As a result, independent Azerbaijan, which meets national interests, has become a locomotive state of the South Caucasus.
We can proudly say that the formation of the Azerbaijan Trade Union Confederation as an independent body is also connected with the name of the Great Leader Heydar Aliyev. With the return of the national leader to power, a new page was opened in the life of trade unions. As a result of Heydar Aliyev’s personal attention and care, the Trade Unions of Azerbaijan have once again become an organization with a worthy place in the social, political, economic and cultural life of the country. It was in the former post-Soviet space under the personal initiative and control of the National Leader that the first law on trade unions was adopted in Azerbaijan in 1994, thus creating conditions for the normal functioning of the organization.
School of statehood without alternatives, perfect political heritage
All these realities once again confirm that the founder of today’s powerful Azerbaijani state is the Great Leader Heydar Aliyev. But the unprecedented and alternative school of statehood created by the Great Leader is another masterpiece, a perfect political heritage. The President of Azerbaijan, Muzaffar Koman Ilham Aliyev, has enriched and strengthened this school and its heritage with greater achievements and modern requirements of the new world. Ilham Aliyev, who was elected President in October 2003 with the great confidence of the absolute majority of the people, successfully continued the political course of National Leader Heydar Aliyev for the past 19 years and ensured the development of our republic based on the concept of “Strong State – Independent Policy”.
As a result of the attention and care of President Ilham Aliyev, today the Trade Unions of Azerbaijan, being one of the main institutions of civil society, are looking for real ways to strengthen their place and role in society. Purposeful measures are being taken in Azerbaijan today to comply with the principles of social justice, protect the labor rights of employees in a market economy, and regulate relations between employers and employees.
Mr. Ilham Aliyev has fully fulfilled his promises to the people from the first day of his election as President. During his 19 years as President of Azerbaijan, he has achieved rapid development of our country in all areas, solved the social problems of citizens and further improved the welfare of the people.
It was under the leadership of Ilham Aliyev that our territorial integrity, which had been violated by Armenia for 30 years, was restored. Today, not all megaprojects planned in the South Caucasus and in the region as a whole are realized without the participation of Azerbaijan and without taking into account national interests. Regardless of the geographical conditions and the nature of the political system, the phenomenon of leadership plays an important role here. Thanks to Ilham Aliyev’s leadership qualities, political stability has been ensured in our country and the ground has been laid for future development.
Thanks to Mr. Ilham Aliyev’s economic reforms, Azerbaijan has become a donor country. Once in need of foreign aid, Azerbaijan now provides humanitarian and material assistance to disadvantaged countries, such as the Non-Aligned Movement, the second-largest organization after the United Nations in terms of membership. Azerbaijan’s sending humanitarian aid to more than 80 countries during the global pandemic, which has swept the world since 2020, is a clear confirmation of this.
Commander who fulfills the will of the father
Today new pages of our glorious history are being written. The bright page of this new chronicle is the modern realities brought by the great victory in the 44-day Patriotic War. As a result of the political line defined by National Leader Heydar Aliyev and duly continued by Mr. Ilham Aliyev, the strong Azerbaijani state once again demonstrated its power to the world and turned the issue that international organizations could not solve for years into reality with Operation Iron Fist in just 44 days.
With this victory, the 30-year occupation of Armenia was ended, and our only painful problem was solved. Azerbaijan not only punished Armenia on the battlefield, but also dealt a great blow to the world Armenians, who for many decades tried to create negative images of our people in the world. The myth about the strength of the Armenian army and the determination of the Armenian soldier was shattered in 44 days.
Today, the shadow of the Azerbaijani flag waving in Shusha falls on the whole of Karabakh, East Zangazur. The reconstruction work carried out in our liberated lands once again demonstrates the economic power of Azerbaijan to the world. Because all the projects implemented in Karabakh and East Zangazur are implemented by Azerbaijan on its own, without any assistance.
Shusha, the capital of our culture, is becoming the diplomatic center of the Caucasus. This is confirmed by the forums and conferences of international organizations held in Shusha. The holding of the V Congress of World Azerbaijanis in Shusha on the initiative of Mr. Ilham Aliyev had both historical and symbolic meaning. In his speech at the congress, the Commander-in-Chief both assessed the new realities and identified a key roadmap for the strengthening of the position of Azerbaijani diaspora organizations in the world. He drew attention to the important issues to be implemented in the post-conflict period and gave serious instructions to our compatriots. He stressed the need to organize national diaspora organizations as a single, organized force and showed its ideological and political outlines. The head of state stressed the impossibility of achieving serious success in the fight against the Armenian lobby in modern times without paying special attention to this area.
For a year and a half, other realities have prevailed in the region. Azerbaijan, which liberated its lands, put an end to Armenia’s occupation policy. These realities also mean that the world does not ignore the claims of Armenians on Azerbaijani lands. President Ilham Aliyev sets the agenda for the normalization of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Therefore, the losing country is doomed to reckon with the winner. Thus, some time ago, Mr. Ilham Aliyev sent a proposal to Armenia, consisting of 5 principles, stating that a peace agreement can be realized only if these principles are observed. At first, the Armenian leadership tried to avoid this process with different views, remaining true to tradition, but in the end was forced to accept the reality. Nicole Pashinyan said she agreed to conclude a peace agreement based on the proposals put forward by Ilham Aliyev. It should be noted that these principles of the President of Azerbaijan are also praised at the international level. The European Union, which wants peace in the South Caucasus, supports Ilham Aliyev’s proposals.
It is a clear embodiment of Ilham Aliyev being a world-class, influential politician. Demonstration of real leadership qualities by the President of Azerbaijan at such meetings and forums, high level of awareness of the processes taking place in the world, accurate answers once again confirm that Ilham Aliyev is a resolute, principled and humane leader.
This successful diplomacy, the triumph of independent policy, once again proclaimed in the Great Leader’s address to the people in 2003, “I believe that with your help and support, Ilham Aliyev will be able to complete the fateful issues, plans and work that I could not complete.” I believe in him as much as I do and have high hopes for his future. ”