The people of Azerbaijan are living the brightest pages of their centuries-old history. We are celebrating the second anniversary of our Victory in the Second Karabakh War, which ended the two hundred years of conflict and thirty years of war, with our heads held high, our foreheads open, and as a proud nation.
The architect of this victory is Mr. President Ilham Aliyev, the worthy successor of the Great Leader Heydar Aliyev, who fulfilled his unfinished dreams and turned Azerbaijan into the most powerful state in history.
Time has shown that the people of Azerbaijan have made very wise decisions during their history written with honor based on the ancients. The people who invited the genius Heydar Aliyev to Baku as a savior leader in 1993 and chose them as their leader, were not mistaken in their choice in the presidential elections held in the country on October 15, 2003. Mr. Ilham Aliyev, who received a mandate of trust from the absolute majority of the people 19 years ago, wrote his name in the history of Azerbaijan as a founder, reformer, humanist President.
The trust of the people, the right choice of the absolute majority
Of course, in his address to the people of Azerbaijan 19 years ago, the recommendations of the National Leader “I believe in Ilham Aliyev as much as myself”, “He will successfully complete the work that I cannot do” played a big role in the correct choice of the country’s population. Because the people who called the Great Leader to Azerbaijan with their urgent request in 1993 had to react in this way to the call of the savior President whom they believed in and trusted.
October 15, 2003 is remembered as one of the glorious pages of the statehood history of modern Azerbaijan. On the same day, Mr. Ilham Aliyev won the trust of 2 million 438 thousand 787 voters and was elected the head of state of Azerbaijan in the 5th official elections for the post of President held in the country in a free, fair and transparent manner. More than 76 percent of voters supported the political course of Great Leader Heydar Aliyev by voting for Mr. Ilham Aliyev.
President Ilham Aliyev fulfilled all the hopes of the people who voted for him. The people, who witnessed this, believed in the President and strongly supported him, closely united around him and increased his power and greatness many times. President Ilham Aliyev not only ensured the rapid development of Azerbaijan with his activities. His ideas, practical activities, global scale initiatives also made important contributions to the development of mankind.
Powerful Azerbaijan, led by President Ilham Aliyev, plays a very important role in the development of international cooperation and the provision of world-wide security. It should be emphasized that the policy implemented by President Ilham Aliyev ensured the modernization of our country, the fundamental change of the face of our republic, and its transformation into a worthy member of the world community. Today, Azerbaijan’s experience in various fields is an example even for developed countries. Carrying out large-scale reforms, increasing the efficiency of management and other important steps ensure the long-term development of Azerbaijan.
The most reformist President who introduced Azerbaijan to the world
However, we must admit that all these achievements did not come easily. In 2004, when the implementation of the I State Program on the socio-economic development of the regions began, Azerbaijan had only 1.8 billion dollars in foreign exchange reserves. However, none of the socio-economic projects envisaged in the state programs were postponed.
Currently, the country’s foreign exchange reserves have increased to 56 billion dollars. In other words, our currency reserves have increased 31 times in the last 19 years. During the years of independence, the amount of investments in the country’s economy is close to 280 billion dollars. Most of these investments are foreign investments and are mainly invested in the oil and gas sector. Against the background of the realities of the last 19 years, we can emphasize that as a logical continuation of the oil policy, the non-oil sector has also developed rapidly, and the capabilities of our country in this field are on the attention of the world. The successful completion of each project paves the way for bringing up the next projects along with the presentation of our country’s opportunities. Projects in which Azerbaijan is a participant and initiator play the role of a bridge between states and peoples. These projects ensure the sustainable development of other countries based on the expansion of the geography of both participation and cooperation. This once again confirms that the business and investment environment created by President Ilham Aliyev in Azerbaijan had a positive effect on the process of foreign investors investing in our country.
The reconstruction of the transport system in Azerbaijan ensured the access of our country to the world. All this was based on a successful energy policy. Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, “Southern Gas Corridor”, the launch of Baku International Sea Trade Port, “North-South”, “East-West” transport corridors, in general, the implementation of huge infrastructure projects will make Azerbaijan the region’s transport-transit, as well as turned it into a logistics center.
Thoughtful, purposeful and, most importantly, completely independent policy of the head of state led to further increase of Azerbaijan’s regional and international influence. This policy also ensured that Azerbaijan became a member of the UN Security Council, a member of the space club and a venue for international events.
Thanks to the strong political will and continuous support of the President, the complex reforms carried out in the country made it possible for Azerbaijan to sign a new record every year. The “Doing Business” report of the World Bank, which is considered the most important and reliable rating indicator in the world, evaluated the head of state Ilham Aliyev as the most reforming President. According to the report, Azerbaijan was included in the list of 10 reforming countries of the world and declared the most reforming country in the world. The complex reforms carried out by Mr. Ilham Aliyev not only gave our country the image of “the most reforming country in the world”, but also ensured sustainable and balanced economic development.
The hosting of great humanitarian, cultural, inter-civilizational and inter-religious dialogue and sports events by our capital should be considered a unique indicator of trust and respect for Azerbaijan on an international scale. In fact, the participants of international events held in Azerbaijan can be considered as highly trusted ambassadors of our country all over the world.
The road to the Great Victory
At the swearing-in ceremony held on October 31, 2003, President Ilham Aliyev said about the former Nagorno-Karabakh conflict: “Azerbaijan will never come to terms with this situation, with its lands being occupied. Everyone should know that although we are supporters of peace, we want the war not to start again and to solve this issue peacefully, our patience is not exhausted. “Azerbaijan will liberate its native land at any cost.”
President Ilham Aliyev, who won the deep moral and political support of our people by persistently continuing the national leader Heydar Aliyev’s far-reaching economic policy and strategy of building a perfect army, became the invincible commander of the glorious road to victory. Taking on the painful and difficult mission of liberating our lands from occupation from the first day, the head of state always paid special attention to the construction of a new economy, which is the fundamental basis of the “strong army – strong state” concept. The economic power factor played an important role in the deepening of Azerbaijan’s economic and political relations with influential international organizations, transnational companies, and developed countries, and at the same time, it was important in terms of the recognition of the fact of the occupation of our territories and the recognition of our territorial integrity.
Economic power acted as a fundamental pillar of diplomacy, strengthened the positions of our country in the international arena, the process of exposing Armenia’s occupation policy was accelerated, and in parallel, the ground was created for the realization of successive measures in the direction of building a modern army.
His ability to put national interests above all else and properly protect them even in the most difficult moments, his political will, determination, ability to predetermine the course of development of events, and his bold decisions allowed Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev to forever heal the wound of Karabakh, which had turned into a hole in the hearts of our people.
Over the years, the material and technical base of our Armed Forces has strengthened. The army building policy of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief gave excellent results. Both our military equipment and ammunition were regularly updated. The result of this was shown in the battles of April 2016 and Gunnut of 2018. In both battles, which ended with the victory of our army, the heroism and bravery of our military personnel showed our strength to the enemy. These battles once again confirmed that the Azerbaijani Army is capable of performing any task.
Although the President of Azerbaijan has repeatedly demonstrated to the world that he is a supporter of peace with his policy, the terrorist leadership of the occupying Armenia did not stop its dirty deeds, and even played cunning games that provoked our country.
Leaders who play the role of saviors in the history of every nation show courage and write their name forever in the glorious history of their state. Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev, who turned Azerbaijan into the most powerful state in its history and ended the nation’s 30-year longing, is one of those leaders. Because it was under the leadership of Mr. Ilham Aliyev that the Karabakh conflict, which many considered impossible, was resolved in just 44 days. Occupying Armenia, which was protected by the majority of world powers for many years, bowed before the military-political diplomacy of President Ilham Aliyev.
Unprecedented construction works in Karabakh and Eastern Zangezur, ongoing peace negotiations
The Commander-in-Chief, who freed our occupied lands with an “iron fist”, is now rebuilding our ancient homeland with an iron will, as well as demonstrating the principle of defending Azerbaijan’s resolute position and national interests in peace negotiations. In other words, President Ilham Aliyev still attracts attention with his steps in both directions.
Azerbaijan’s reconstruction of Karabakh and Eastern Zangezur on its own strength alone, without receiving financial assistance from anyone, is an indicator of the economic power of the country, and the position of President Ilham Aliyev in the peace negotiations can be called a celebration of determination.
President Ilham Aliyev approves the master plan of all cities and towns, regions, villages and is personally interested in the ongoing construction works. He visits our liberated territories as a Victorious Commander and intimidates the enemy.
During the occupation, hydroelectric power plants, electric power plants, airports, railway lines, highways, bridges, tunnels, main water lines, modern residential complexes are built, socio-economic infrastructures, industrial parks and agricultural parks are created in these territories destroyed by the enemy. In the last two years, a total of 4 billion 870 million manats were allocated for the restoration and reconstruction works in the territories freed from occupation. It is planned to allocate 3 billion manats from the state budget for this purpose.
Along with President Ilham Aliyev, the activities of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation headed by First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva should be emphasized in the mission of returning our cultural and religious heritage to the people in our lands freed from occupation. It has been a long time since Mehriban Aliyeva ordered the restoration of our religious monuments and mosques, which were destroyed, destroyed, insulted and desecrated by the enemy for nearly 30 years. This project of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, which has breathed life into thousands of monuments, is dedicated to the restoration of our religious heritage and mosques in Karabakh.
In general, the Heydar Aliyev Foundation has been implementing projects and programs covering various fields in Azerbaijan since the first day of its operation. The activity of the fund in the direction of preservation and restoration of historical, cultural and religious monuments is known to everyone. Today, we can proudly say that the Heydar Aliyev Foundation makes a great contribution to our history by restoring our religious monuments and mosques, which are the national wealth of the Azerbaijani people, in the ancient land of Karabakh.
It has been a long time since Mehriban Aliyeva ordered the restoration of our religious monuments and mosques, which were destroyed, destroyed, insulted and desecrated by the enemy for nearly 30 years. This project of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, which has breathed life into thousands of monuments, is dedicated to the restoration of our religious heritage and mosques in Karabakh. In general, the Heydar Aliyev Foundation has been implementing projects and programs covering various fields in Azerbaijan since the first day of its operation. The activity of the fund in the direction of preservation and restoration of historical, cultural and religious monuments is known to everyone. Today, we can proudly say that the Heydar Aliyev Foundation makes a great contribution to our history by restoring our religious monuments and mosques, which are the national wealth of the Azerbaijani people, in the ancient land of Karabakh.
The 4 meetings held by the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Brussels, the quadrilateral meeting held within the Prague Summit of the European Political Union brought the parties a little closer to signing the peace agreement. The two meetings held for more than 5 hours in one day differed from the previous ones with their special features.
As a result of the diplomatic successes achieved by President Ilham Aliyev until this meeting, a number of important agreements were reached. The most important thing is that, according to the statement adopted at the end, Armenia once again confirmed that it recognizes Azerbaijan’s authority over Karabakh. The accepted statement also proved that the negotiations took place completely against the background of official Baku’s dictates and the document was adopted in a form that was in line with Azerbaijan’s wishes. Thus, Azerbaijan and Armenia recognized each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, and the UN Charter was taken as the main document in this regard. In fact, this also means that Karabakh is an integral part of Azerbaijan. This is a historical issue in itself. That’s why this statement was made at the Prague meeting and the mutual territorial integrity was emphasized with the participation of Azerbaijan, Armenia, France, the Council of the European Union, and the testimony of almost all political leaders of Europe is a great historical event.
On the other hand, in the process of normalization of Azerbaijan-Armenia relations and the signing of a peace treaty, the fair approach of the European Union without taking sides is important, and Azerbaijan welcomes it.
In general, Azerbaijan is the most important economic partner of the European Union in the South Caucasus. In particular, Europe’s support in terms of ensuring energy security at a time when the world is experiencing an energy crisis also indicates closer cooperation between Azerbaijan and the EU in the near future. At the same time, this shows that relations with the European Union will not be limited to cooperation in the energy field in the future, because the increase in contacts and strengthening of mutual trust are highly appreciated by both President Ilham Aliyev and the leadership of the European Union. In essence, this means the beginning of a new stage in Azerbaijan-European Union relations.
As it can be seen, the leaders of the European countries have already accepted Ilham Aliyev among the world’s leading politicians as a head of state with his word, a decisive position and a reliable partner faithful to his promise. This once again suggests that Ilham Aliyev makes important contributions to the energy policy of Eurasia with his global initiatives. Most of the countries of Europe highly value Ilham Aliyev’s independent position as President. In a word, the peace process was already boosted at the Prague meetings. This, of course, once again proves that President Ilham Aliyev always resolutely ensures our national interests and, with his far-sighted decisions, leads the most powerful Azerbaijan in its history with great pride and pride to a more magnificent future.