Speech of the Chairman of the Party, Head of State Mr. Ilham Aliyev at the event held on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the New Azerbaijan Party (NAP) at the Heydar Aliyev Center on November 21
– Dear members of the New Azerbaijan Party.
Dear guests, ladies and gentlemen.
Today we are celebrating the 30th anniversary of the New Azerbaijan Party. On this occasion, I heartily congratulate all members of the New Azerbaijan Party.
The establishment of our party was a historical event. At that time, the young Republic of Azerbaijan was experiencing difficult times. Our independence was only one year old, and the first year of our independence was very difficult, in some cases our people faced great tragedies. In such a situation, prominent representatives of Azerbaijan, patriotic people, people who think about the country’s future, saw the way to save our country in the person of Heydar Aliyev, and that is why they appealed to the Great Leader. The famous “91s” who addressed this appeal fulfilled their historical mission with honor. Because it was on the basis of this request, in response to this request, the founding conference of the New Azerbaijan Party was held in Nakhchivan.
The first constituent conference of the New Azerbaijan Party held in Nakhchivan, I want to say again, was a historic event. After this conference held under the chairmanship of the Great Leader, a new political force has emerged in our country. When the New Azerbaijan Party was created, it was created as an opposition party, and taking on a part of the heavy problems and burdens of the state was a step that required great responsibility. Because at that time, I want to say once again, the processes going on in the country were very disturbing, and it was from this necessity that prominent representatives of Azerbaijan turned to Heydar Aliyev. Because the country was already in an ungovernable state, the foundations of statehood had not been laid within a year, democratic development was slow, in fact, steps were being taken backwards. Suffice it to say that if we only mention the use of censorship there was no talk of a democratic environment at that time. The founding conference of the New Azerbaijan Party was held precisely in Nakhchivan. At that time, Baku was not allowed to hold this conference. That is, although democratic values were announced, the people of Azerbaijan actually saw the opposite in life. There was no media freedom, the economy was in dire straits, people’s social condition was getting worse day by day, poverty reached about 90 percent, and industrial production was paralyzed. The oil and gas industry, which is the leading branch of our industry, had also suffered a great decline, and in fact there was an electricity crisis in our country. The regular army was not created inflation went from two to three digits. That is, this is the situation in our country in November 1992.
Of course, the occupation of our lands made our situation even worse. The occupation of Shusha and Lachin in May 1992 was a great tragedy both morally and from a military-strategic point of view. Because in this way, the geographical connection between the territory called “Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Province” and Armenia was ensured. Everyone could see that if things continued like this, the occupation of Kalbajar would be inevitable. Unfortunately, that happened. In other words, in April 1993, Kalbajar was also occupied, and thus most of our territory was out of our control.
Confidence in Heydar Aliyev was at a very high level in the society. The main reasons for this belief were that during his work in Azerbaijan, he always served the people, always lived with the people’s concerns, was always with the people, was together. It was under his leadership that in the early 1970s and 1980s, Azerbaijan turned from the most backward republic in the Soviet space into one of the most advanced republics, and all statistical indicators confirm this. At the same time, the standard of living of the citizens living in Azerbaijan improved year by year, especially the people engaged in agriculture were able to rebuild their lives. The faith of our people in Heydar Aliyev, I say again, was unparalleled. Especially the tragedy faced by our people in the 1980s showed once again that our people only want to see Heydar Aliyev in the leadership position.
However, there were such tendencies, there were also in the previous times. Less than two weeks after Heydar Aliyev resigned from all positions, Armenian separatists already raised the issue of the separation of Karabakh from Azerbaijan and joining Armenia. That is, these factors show that the Great Leader was with the people even when he was in retirement and in the most tragic days for our people. The day after the January 20 tragedy, he came to the permanent representation of Azerbaijan in Moscow and accused the Soviet government, the Communist Party – the party he served for many years, and condemned this terrible crime. All this and at the same time the steps taken towards independence during the period of his work in Nakhchivan, including the establishment of the State Flag of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic as the official flag in Nakhchivan and other steps,
Seven months after the founding conference of NAP, Heydar Aliyev was invited to Baku at the request of the people, he was elected the speaker of the parliament, and after 11 months – in October, he was elected the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Thus, that black page of our history is closed.
There were very serious, big problems before the country. It was Heydar Aliyev’s courage, intelligence, experience, the people’s trust in him, and of course, the activity of the members of the New Azerbaijan Party, the activity of social activists, that allowed us to come out of this difficult situation with honor. It was on the initiative of Heydar Aliyev that the main steps were taken that determined the strategic line of our country. First of all, the Constitution was adopted. Imagine that before Heydar Aliyev came to power, Azerbaijan was already an independent state, but we did not have a Constitution. Adoption of the Constitution is a very important historical event. The foundations of statehood have been laid, state institutions have been formed on the right basis. We were able to correct the unjustified position against us in the international world, but we did not completely eliminate it. But in any case, we were able to create international isolation, including information blockade, and bring the truths of Azerbaijan to the attention of the world community.
We launched very serious economic reforms under the leadership of the Great Leader. The establishment of the economy based on the principles of the market economy was reflected in those years. The future development of Azerbaijan as a secular state was determined in those years. It was in those years that our foreign policy and our work on national interests were presented to the people and supported by the people. The steps taken in many other areas, including in the field of army building, allowed us to create a really strong and regular army after a few years. Today, all Azerbaijani people are proud of our Army. That is, these historical steps included the long-term strategic development model of our country. Of course, we had to have strong financial resources to implement all our plans. We understood well that this cannot be achieved without foreign investments. In order for foreign investments to be made in the country, first of all, there had to be stability, and this stability was created. In that country, in 1991-1993, the Azerbaijani people actually did not know what stability was. Illegal armed groups were defiant, people with automatic weapons practically ruled the streets of Baku and other cities, mass disobedience prevailed. In such a situation, it was possible to create stability only due to Heydar Aliyev’s influence, his courage and the people’s trust in him, and foreign investments started coming immediately after him. The famous “Contract of the Century” and subsequent work in the oil and gas field created a strong financial foundation at that time. The steps taken at that time and the decisions made allow us today to
That is, in 1993-2003, very solid foundations of our statehood were laid. These years can be characterized as years of stability and development. The main thing is that this policy should have been continued. In 2003, the people of Azerbaijan once again showed wisdom and expressed respect for the personality of the Great Leader and voted for Heydar Aliyev’s policy. I promised the people in 2003 that I will not turn from this path. The events of the last 19 years show that it happened, all the tasks and recommendations of the Great Leader were fulfilled. He said in his political will that many things were done, but my followers will do the things that we could not do, and that is what happened. By continuing and developing his political line, we built a strong state of Azerbaijan, in the true sense of the word, every Azerbaijani is proud of this state, our native state. We deepened the economic reforms and the work done in this field in the last 19 years is obvious. Suffice it to say that our economy has grown more than 3 times since 2003. This year, our economy will reach record levels. The forecast by the end of the year says that our economy will reach 130 billion manats. This is a record indicator.
As a result of our successful economic and financial policy, we have been able to significantly reduce our foreign debt. This is a great advantage both for today and for future generations. Today, because our credit rating is improving. For future generations, because this burden will not fall on future generations. As a result of the reforms carried out by my order a few years ago, by the end of this year, we will reduce the share of our foreign debt in the gross domestic product to 10 percent. If we take our foreign exchange reserves, our foreign exchange reserves are 8 times more than our foreign debt. That is, only rare countries can be proud of these indicators.
Of course, there is still much work to be done today. Transparency of our economy, fight against unpleasant situations, significant reduction of the size of the shadow economy, improvement of the business environment, more serious fight against monopolies – all these are the issues on the agenda. Including the application of the corporate management method in state companies reflects today’s realities. I am sure that the economic reforms carried out today – these reforms carried out on a strategic line will give us additional opportunities in the near future. In particular, we will definitely need a strong economy to rebuild Karabakh and Eastern Zangazur at our own expense and to achieve all goals. Because that’s the point. Those countries that are economically dependent on other countries or international financial institutions, those countries have difficulties in conducting an independent policy. We always wanted our policy to reflect the will of our people. We wanted no outside force to influence our will and there was no such possibility. Therefore, economic power, economic independence is the basis of activity in all other areas. Following the Great Leader’s path, we, of course, pay close attention to the changes taking place in the world today, and apply the most progressive practice in Azerbaijan. I am sure that in the next years we will achieve what we want in this field. economic independence is the basis of activity in all other areas. Following the Great Leader’s path, we, of course, pay close attention to the changes taking place in the world today, and apply the most progressive practice in Azerbaijan. I am sure that in the next years we will achieve what we want in this field. economic independence is the basis of activity in all other areas. Following the Great Leader’s path, we, of course, pay close attention to the changes taking place in the world today, and apply the most progressive practice in Azerbaijan. I am sure that in the next years we will achieve what we want in this field.
We have been able to significantly reduce poverty. Even if poverty increases a little during the pandemic period, as a result of the work done during the post-pandemic period, as a result of the regular increase of the minimum wage and the minimum amount of pension, we keep poverty around 5 percent. This is a very good indicator worldwide. Here, transparency in both state policy and the economic and financial sector, as well as improvement of the business environment, attracting local and foreign investments to the non-oil sector will be one of the main factors.
The state of Azerbaijan is built and developed on national and moral values based on the will of the Great Leader. Azerbaijani values are the main values for us. We are all witnesses of this, that the young generation also grows up in the national spirit, the young generation is loyal to national traditions and the ideas of Azerbaijanism. All nations in Azerbaijan live as one family, and this was the policy of the Great Leader. By successfully continuing and enriching this policy, we have created a rare and unrepeatable environment in Azerbaijan today, I think on a global scale. The second Karabakh war showed this once again. The representatives of all the peoples living in Azerbaijan were ready to die as one, they were going to die, raising our flag in the liberated lands. This is our great advantage. In this direction, both within the country, Today, Azerbaijan is showing exemplary behavior at the international level as well. The main issue is that this policy is supported by all Azerbaijani people, all ethnic groups living in Azerbaijan. This increases our strength, and this is exactly how future generations should live, I am sure they will.
Our oil and gas projects, which were initiated by the Great Leader in the mid-1990s, have now expanded. Even the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, which he authored, played a key role. But the subsequent projects greatly expanded our capabilities, and today Azerbaijan has become an indispensable partner for many countries. Today’s processes in the world show that energy security is one of the main factors of security. Without it, no country can consider itself safe. Our advantage, of course, is that we have natural resources. But there are so many countries whose natural resources are much more than ours. However, – I don’t want to compare with anyone, – do all countries use all those resources effectively? Of course not. Therefore, the work carried out in this field in Azerbaijan strengthened the country’s economy, and at the same time, the obtained income was fairly distributed in the society. First of all, the most vulnerable groups benefited from these opportunities, including former internally displaced persons. They were provided with more than 300,000 houses and apartments built at the expense of the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan. At the same time, our oil and gas projects strengthened our international positions. Because, especially in the current conditions, the infrastructure, transport, and energy infrastructure of Azerbaijan are of vital importance for many countries. Of course, as our geopolitical opportunities increase, the country’s interests are more fully satisfied, and the number of our friends on different continents increases. the obtained incomes were fairly distributed in the society.
Strong army building. This was the Great Leader’s will to us. Today, the Azerbaijani Army has already confirmed itself, expelled the enemy from our historical lands in just 44 days, restored historical justice, restored the pride of our people, and today is the guarantor of the security of the Azerbaijani state. We have always paid great attention to army building. Some work was presented to public attention, some work we conducted more confidentially, that is, under secret conditions, which is understandable. But as a result, we showed such heroism and such professionalism that it is an example for many people today.
Our international positions have been greatly strengthened. A lot can be said about this, I just want to mention a few points. We became the first country in the CIS to be elected a member of the UN Security Council with the support of 155 countries. In 2019, we were elected chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement by the unanimous decision of 120 countries, and due to our successful chairmanship, our chairmanship term was extended for another year, until the end of next year. We are successfully operating within the framework of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the Organization of Turkic States, and many other organizations. Even in organizations that we are not members of, we have many friends, and the events of recent years and months show it once again. For example, the Collective Security Treaty Organization. We are not a member of this organization. Armenia is a member of this organization, and through this organization, it wanted to raise an unfounded claim against Azerbaijan, and in fact, it wanted to confront the member countries of this organization with Azerbaijan. This is a great provocation and a great crime.
However, other members of this organization did not go to this provocation. Some, in their speeches, put Armenia in such a state that even today they cannot forget it in Armenia. So what does this mean? Our friends in this organization are more than those of Armenia. Why? According to our policy, because we are a reliable partner. Why is the attitude towards Armenia negative? Because they lie everywhere and there is no other door to solve their problems that they don’t turn to. All this is obvious, everyone sees it, everyone knows it.
Recently, an ugly provocation was planned against Azerbaijan within the framework of the Francophonie organization, of which we are still not a member, but for some reason Armenia is a member. The author of this provocation was France, and France is now patronizing Armenia. They call each other “sisters” and I see that the comrades also made a special note of this. I didn’t say that they could say “brother”, but for some reason they say “sister”. The initial version of the resolution prepared there was based on purely anti-Azerbaijan theses and was completely contrary to the truth. All anti-Azerbaijan theses were removed as a result of the efforts of our friends in the Francophonie organization – we know them well and they are our friends in the truest sense of the word. The French-Armenian tandem could not use this opportunity either. That is, it shows that our reputation in international organizations and the policy we conduct at the international level are appreciated. Because we always treat every job with responsibility. There is no difference between our word and our signature. We prioritize the principles of cooperation and friendship in our foreign policy concept and provide assistance to countries in need whenever possible, just as we have provided humanitarian and financial assistance to more than 80 countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. So, this is a big deal. Of course, the fact that we conducted ourselves with dignity in the international arena earned us additional respect. we prioritize the principles of friendship and provide assistance to countries in need whenever possible, just as we provided humanitarian and financial assistance to more than 80 countries during the COVID period.
Today, while celebrating the anniversary of the New Azerbaijan Party, each of us, without a doubt, once again expresses our respect to the memory of the Great Leader. Because as the years pass and the world changes, each of us knows very well that if the people of Azerbaijan had not turned to Heydar Aliyev and invited him to power, our country could have faced a greater disaster.
The life and activity of the Great Leader was an example of selflessness. He always set an example to all of us, even in the most difficult times for himself, in the last years when his physical health was not as good as before. Each of us, including myself, tries to act according to his criteria, both in his life and in his absence. And that is what drives us today – a deep respect for his memory and respect for his legacy. Today, independent Azerbaijan is his legacy.
Heydar Aliyev also said something in his political testament. I have already said this many times, the people of Azerbaijan also know that our successors will finish the works that we could not finish. Among them, I probably think that, first of all, it meant the solution of the Karabakh problem. We, his followers, put this problem at the center of all our work. That is, every step, every initiative, every investment, every international contact was aimed at bringing us closer to our holy goal or away from it?! Therefore, the essence of all our work was precisely this – to liberate Karabakh, to restore historical justice. We were going towards this goal. It took us a long time. But we had to go and make such a point that it would be once and for all. We could never go on an adventure. We could not take a wrong step or an untimely step. We had to weigh everything and choose the best time considering our strength and other factors, we had to be in the best position for the best time. Our people have fully united with our Army. That is why we all say that this is a national victory. Because the people-power united as a fist and in just 44 days we achieved what we wanted, restored historical justice, drove the enemy from our lands. November 8, 2020 will remain forever in the memory of all of us, including me. At that time, I visited the grave of the Great Leader, and then I visited the graves of the martyrs. I gave the good news of Shusha to the people of Azerbaijan in the Alley of Martyrs. In front of the Great Leader’s grave, I said to myself that this will and this last will have been fulfilled.
Now we are rebuilding and rebuilding Karabakh and Eastern Zangezur. It is a completely new era in our life and in the life of our country. Each of us participates in these construction works with great enthusiasm, with one goal, to quickly return the former settlers to their ancestral lands, to quickly restore the destroyed cities and villages, and to show the whole world once again that we are a great nation.
We are a victorious people, a victorious state, and it will be forever!
Then the event continued with speeches.
First Deputy Chairman of the Justice and Development Party of the Republic of Turkey (AK Party) and deputy of Istanbul Numan Kurtulmuş read the congratulatory letter of the Chairman of the AK Party, President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Andrey Klimov, a member of the Bureau of the Supreme Council of the Yedinaya Rossiya Party of the Russian Federation, Deputy Chairman of the Committee on International Affairs of the Federation Council, Dmitry Medvedev, the Chairman of the Party, Ms. Guo Min, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People’s Republic of China to Azerbaijan, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the Central Committee of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party. the deputy chairman of the relations committee Somphon Sichulun, the Secretary General of the Central Committee of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party, the President of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic Thongloun Sisouliz, brought to their attention congratulatory letters.
Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Liberal Democratic Party of Uzbekistan, Aktam Khaitov, read his congratulatory letter to the New Azerbaijan Party.
Then Arif Rahimzade, a member of the NAP( New Azerbaijan Party) Board of Directors, Vugar Rahimzade, the chairman of the party’s Khatai district organization, Lieutenant Colonel Anar Mirzayev, the Hero of the Patriotic War, Rahila Ramazanova, the mother of Nurlan Mustafayev, a martyr with the Order of the “Flag of Azerbaijan”, Mikhail Zabelin, a member of the NAP Board of Directors, a deputy of the Milli Majlis, NAP- Arzu Abdullayev, chairman of the territorial party organization at Nakhchivan State University, Ulviyya Akhundova, member of NAP Youth Union, Cho Byung-jaen, secretary general of the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP), and Beycan Ilyas, chairman of the Turkish Democratic Party of North Macedonia, spoke.
The speakers talked about the establishment of the New Azerbaijan Party, which was founded by National Leader Heydar Aliyev, the successes achieved during the 30-year period of the party’s activity and the steps to be taken in the future. Noting that NAP has won the love and support of the people and continues to play a vanguard role in ensuring stability in the country, the speakers noted that today the New Azerbaijan Party, which is the leading political force of Azerbaijan, is known for its great influence not only in the region, but also in the international arena.
Later, NAP Deputy Chairman – Head of the Central Office Tahir Budagov drew attention to the congratulatory letters of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam and the Party of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms of Bulgaria. Noting that congratulatory letters continue to be sent to the New Azerbaijan Party,NAP Deputy Chairman said that additional information will be provided to the press. On behalf of the Central Office of NAP, Tahir Budagov congratulated the participants of the event on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the party and wished everyone success in the continued implementation of President Ilham Aliyev’s policy, closely united around the bright ideas of Great Leader Heydar Aliyev.
The event ended with the singing of the National Anthem.