“With the continued development under Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijan has become the center of attraction in the region… Azerbaijan’s valuable efforts for peace, prosperity and future generations are watched with great interest and joy by the entire Turkic world and are accepted as an example.”
Recep Tayyip Erdogan
President of Turkey
“The main goal of his life is to see his country and the people of Azerbaijan happy.”
Vladimir Putin
President of Russia
“Ilham Aliyev has become very popular in Europe. I don’t know what he did, but I must admit that I would like to know the secret of it.”
Aleksandar Vucic,
President of Serbia
“Ilham Aliyev is the most desirable person in Europe.”
Stevo Pendarovski,
President of North Macedonia
“Today, Western leaders are eager to go to Baku to take a picture with the President of Azerbaijan.”
Peter Sijarto,
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary
The number of such valuable opinions of world leaders, well-known public and political figures can be increased many times over.In all sincere opinions, the personal qualities of the president of Azerbaijan, his principled position and characteristic points defining his global leadership are interpreted.All this is a reality confirming how great importance is attached to the personality and activities of Mr. Ilham Aliyev outside the country.
Let us admit that not every politician is lucky with these and other high qualities that President Ilham Aliyev has. In this sense, the Azerbaijani state is lucky that a politician like Ilham Aliyev, whose word is as valid as his signature, is its leader.
Very high opinions and objective confessions about Mr. Ilham Aliyev confirm that the president of Azerbaijan is also a global leader.
The reality is that some Western states and their leaders, who once expressed undesirable ideas about Azerbaijan, were part of the dirty campaigns against our country and resorted to various methods of pressure, now show great confidence in Mr. Ilham Aliyev. They stand in line to take a picture with him.
As a result of the successful foreign policy pursued by Mr. Ilham Aliyev, the election of our country as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in 2012 with the support of 155 states, as well as the chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement, represented by 120 states, in 2019-2023, show the prestige of modern Azerbaijan on an international scale.
President of Brotherly Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan says that the valuable work of Mr. Ilham Aliyev for the peace, prosperity and future generations of Azerbaijan is watched by the whole Turkic world with great interest and joy. Indeed, with his completely independent policy, resolute decisions and reliable partnership, the president of Azerbaijan today makes a very valuable contribution to the closer unification of the Turkic world and Turkic-speaking states and their transformation into a single center.
With the independent policy pursued by President Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijan chooses its foreign relations, allies in political, economic, military, humanitarian and other spheres, countries and international organizations with which it cooperates. As the owner of its natural resources, it realizes cooperation in the field of energy on the basis of state interests and principles of mutual benefit. At the same time, the energy projects authored and initiated by Mr. Ilham Aliyev have made Azerbaijan the most reliable energy provider in Europe.
Indeed, the ongoing development with Mr. Ilham Aliyev has turned Azerbaijan into a center of attraction in the region. The prestige of our country is growing more and more, at the same time, confidence in Azerbaijan is growing day by day. The successful chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement, the world’s largest political organization after the UN, has further increased this confidence. As a result, it was decided to hold the 29th Session of the Conference of the parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) in Azerbaijan. This is the greatest achievement of our foreign policy after our chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement and membership in the UN Security Council.
Today, there is Azerbaijan on the political map of the world, without its support and without taking into account its opinion, it is impossible to discuss and resolve any regional processes in the South Caucasus. On the platforms where global negotiations of any topic are held, our country is necessarily represented and acts as the main speaker. Therefore, the leading states and organizations of the world call Azerbaijan a guarantee of security in the region. Leading states declare that our country is of great value as an indispensable partner in the South Caucasus and the Caspian Sea region. All this once again confirms that Ilham Aliyev’s completely independent policy has turned Azerbaijan into a country that meets the new challenges of the modern world.
Today, there is not a single international and authoritative meeting where the president of Azerbaijan would not be invited to those events and would not express his thoughts on the challenges of the modern era and ways to solve existing problems. In other words, Ilham Aliyev demonstrates a decisive position not only on regional issues, but also in the course of global events taking place on a global scale, regardless of its essence. The initiatives of the head of state are an important example of strengthening international solidarity and cooperation on a global scale.
20 years of unparalleled success
All these successes have been achieved over the past 30 years. If the great leader Heydar Aliyev, as a Savior leader, saved our country from the threat of destruction and loss of independence and brought it to a new stage of development, Mr. Ilham Aliyev successfully implemented the concept of the rise defined by the world-famous leader and created the most powerful Azerbaijan in its history. The mandate of trust given to Mr. Ilham Aliyev after the Great Leader’s address to the nation in 2003 stipulated the greatest victories in the history of Azerbaijan.
On October 31, 2003, Ali was quoted as saying, “Mr. Ilham Aliyev, who swore by the Qur’an, had no promise in 20 years. Of course, the achievements of the new leader of the new century are not just promises made. During this period, which was written in our modern history as a magnificent 20 years, Azerbaijan passed a unique path of development. If we look at these successes, we can see that the achievements of Azerbaijan in 20 years have not been achieved by some states in their 100-year history.
According to World Bank estimates, in 2002-2022, Azerbaijan was part of the group of upper middle-income countries, and in 20 years the gross domestic product reached from 6.2 billion USD to 78.7 billion USD. If in 2003 per capita budget expenditures were less than 150 Manats, now this figure is more than 3,500 Manats. In 20 years, the annual social protection expenditures of the state budget in our country have increased more than 20 times. During this period, the minimum wage increased 38 times, the average monthly salary 12 times, the minimum pension 14 times, the average monthly pension 18 times, the average monthly pension for old age 19 times, the pension for disability 14 times, the pension for loss of breadwinner 19 times. Compared to 2003, the poverty rate in 2022 decreased from 44.7 to 5.5 percent, and the average monthly salary increased from 77.4 to 839.4 Manats. The country’s foreign trade turnover increased from 3.8 billion USD to 52.7 billion USD. During 2003-2022, agriculture in Azerbaijan grew 2.2 times, transport sector-4.9 times, tourism and catering-18.9 times, and information and communication-23 times.
Strategic foreign exchange reserves increased from $ 1.4 billion to $ 66.1 billion. The total amount of investment in the country’s economy in 20 years amounted to $ 310.4 billion. The volume of investments made in the regions on the basis of state programs is 104 billion Manats. Since 2004, more than 1.8 billion new jobs and more than 52 thousand new enterprises have been created in the regions. Over the past period, more than 60 new power plants were commissioned, the level of gasification in the regions exceeded 94 percent, and the indicator for the population receiving continuous drinking water reached from 9 to 73 percent. Over the past period, more than 3.600 schools, more than 450 kindergartens, about 760 medical institutions, more than 17 thousand kilometers of highways, more than 500 bridges and tunnels have been built or repaired, and 43 Olympic sports complexes have been built.
Within the framework of the state program on the Great Return, more than 12 billion Manats have been allocated from the state budget for the implementation of projects covering various areas. As a result of ensuring the socio-economic development of the regions, revenues from the regions over the past 20 years increased 35.8 times.
Global projects, historical records, member of the space family
Azerbaijan is regarded as one of the countries that plays a key role in the energy supply of Europe through its international energy projects. This is recognized outside the country’s borders, and at the highest levels.
Azerbaijan has completely changed the energy map of Europe with projects such as Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan, Baku-Supsa, Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum, Baku-Tbilisi-Kars, “Southern Gas Corridor”. Azerbaijan, together with its partners, has set new records by building an oil pipeline connecting the Caspian Sea with the Black Sea and the Mediterranean.
The main goal of the “Southern Gas Corridor”, which began operations in 2018, is to ensure the export of natural gas produced during the second phase of operation of the “Shah Deniz” gas condensate field to Turkey and Southern Europe through the extended South Caucasus Pipeline, TANAP and TAP.
The “Southern Gas Corridor”, which was launched 5 years ago, creates real opportunities for the implementation of the Serbia-Bulgaria gas interconnector and other similar projects, which opened on December 10. Today, Azerbaijan exports gas to Georgia, Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, Italy and Romania. Our country has also signed agreements with Hungary and Serbia. At the same time, Albania is also included in the plans for the distribution of Azerbaijan’s gas. At present, Azerbaijan exports its natural gas to 9 countries.
In 2021, Azerbaijan exported a little more than 8 billion cubic meters of gas to Europe, in 2022-11.4 billion cubic meters. In 2023, this volume is expected to exceed 12 billion cubic meters. This accounts for 50 per cent of Azerbaijan’s total gas exports. Azerbaijan plans to double the volume of gas delivered to Europe by 2027.
Azerbaijan’s goal is related to renewable energy, and our country has signed agreements and memoranda of understanding with investors on the creation of 10 gigawatts of renewable energy.
This year, the opening of the largest solar power plant in the region with a capacity of 230 megawatts and fully financed by foreign investors took place. In the next 5-6 years, Azerbaijan plans to produce 10 gigawatts of solar and wind energy. This will give Azerbaijan a comfortable transition from fuel energy to renewable energy. At the same time, European consumers will also be provided with “green energy”.
As a result of the country’s economic power and successes in promoting new technologies, Azerbaijan launched its first artificial satellite into orbit in 2013 and became a member of the World Space family. In 2013, telecommunications satellite” Azerspace-1 “was launched into orbit, in 2014-” Azersky “-remote observation of the Earth, and in 2018-” Azerspace-2″.
All these great successes are the fruit of the development strategy implemented by Mr. Ilham Aliyev.
An honorable mission, a road to Victory, full assurance of sovereignty
President Ilham Aliyev, who turned Azerbaijan into one of the world’s powerful states, in 2003 made his last promise to his people – to liberate the occupied lands from the enemy, and wrote his name in our history as Muzaffar Sarkarda. Mr. Ilham Aliyev completed the fateful issues that Great Leader Heydar Aliyev could not bring to an end and showed his power and might to the world with victories that ensured full sovereignty of Azerbaijan.
Of course, the biggest problem of our people was the former Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The issue of a peaceful solution to this problem was the priority of President Ilham Aliyev’s policy. Our resolute President, who declared the truths of Azerbaijan to the world at all international conferences, succeeded in recognizing Armenia as an occupying state. Resolutions and decisions were adopted in this regard. But those documents remained on paper for many years, their implementation was not ensured. Occupying Armenia takes advantage of this atmosphere of impunity and even thought that Azerbaijan has come to terms with the current situation forever. However, the time has come and our honorable President, as a leader faithful to all his words, fulfilled his promise to the people in 2003. In 2020, our Victory march, which put an end to the enemy’s policy of occupation, resounded around the world.
The concept of sovereignty and territorial integrity of the President of Azerbaijan, who never stopped the work he started and showed the best examples of doing “what, when and how” throughout his activity, was never limited by the results of the war, the policies implemented during the next 3 years and all the work done are the continuation of the process. and reached its logical end on September 20, 2023. In spite of all the pressures, President Ilham Aliyev, with foresight, pragmatically, showed uncompromising principles and strong will, brought closer the day when the National Flag of Azerbaijan will be hung in Khankendi.
On September 19-20, 2023, in just 23 hours, the armed groups of the former so-called regime were neutralized by anti-terrorist measures, the criminal regime in Karabakh was released, and on October 15, the flag of Azerbaijan was raised in Khankendi, Khojavand, Khojaly, Aghdara due to its historical significance. There was a 44-day war and the next brilliant Victory, equal to November 8 – Victory Day. The Victory achieved in September 2023 was remembered as a historical event equal to and complementary to the Victory Day due to its political and moral importance.
The victorious Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev carried out a process of historical importance during the 3 years after the war and completed the mission he undertook.
It is true that first vice-president Mehriban Aliyeva is the biggest supporter of progressive reforms, great victory and successful domestic and foreign policy implemented by President Ilham Aliyev over the past 20 years. It is in the successes achieved that the first lady of the country has invaluable merits. Mrs Mehriban Aliyeva’s activity as the most faithful comrade-in-arms of the head of state, her work is multifaceted and unique.
If we analyze the work done by Mehriban Aliyeva, who, as the first vice-president, made a worthy contribution to the support and success of the political course pursued by President Ilham Aliyev in every field, we can say with confidence that her multifaceted and comprehensive activity has a huge weight in today’s development of Azerbaijan. The large-scale projects carried out by Mehriban Aliyeva, who gained strength from the ideas of statehood of great leader Heydar Aliyev and President Ilham Aliyev, guided by the ideals of humanism and humanity, made her a favorite of the people.
And the steps taken by the first lady of the country during the Patriotic War made everyone proud. Mehriban Aliyeva provided moral support to the mothers of martyrs at that time, shared their troubles, and her family knew the families of martyrs. He called “brother” to the sons disabled in the Karabakh War, embraced the mothers who did not believe in the absence of their children, whose eyes remained on the road, called them “mother” and bowed to them.
Both in the Patriotic War and in the historical stages after it, Mehriban Aliyeva, as the closest confidant of President Ilham Aliyev, repeatedly appealed to the international community in connection with Armenia’s war crimes against humanity.
The Heydar Aliyev Foundation, the largest non-governmental organization in the Caucasus, led by him, makes an important contribution to the construction work carried out in our liberated lands today. For three years, the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, which breathes new life into thousands of monuments, has been restoring our religious heritage, mosques and cultural monuments in Karabakh. We can say with pride that the Heydar Aliyev Foundation makes a great contribution to our history by carrying out restoration of our religious monuments and mosques, which are the national wealth of the Azerbaijani people in the ancient lands of Karabakh and East Zangazur.
Our people, our state always honor the memory of our martyrs, the providers of the great victory at all times, who ensured the freedom of our lands at the cost of their blood, and take special care of their families. The place of martyrs in our society is at the highest point. Both our state and society give them the price they deserve. Both families of martyrs and veterans and veterans are surrounded by comprehensive state care.
All this once again confirms that there is no country in the world that values its martyrs as highly as the state of Azerbaijan and provides comprehensive assistance to their families. Our state is an example in this direction.
In short, the historic victory and the Great Return movement is the culmination of the era of President Ilham Aliyev. However, the new realities and the work done after our glorious victory give reason to say that Azerbaijan has more grandiose victories ahead. Our esteemed president, who ensures the full sovereignty of Azerbaijan in the truest sense of the word, has shown loyalty to all his promises to his people. Our grateful people have always believed and trusted their president and have always shown their support to the head of state. In such conditions of mutual trust, our resolute leader will lead Azerbaijan to higher heights and great victories for many years to come.
Sattar MOHBALIYEV,
Deputy of Milli Majlis, chairman of Azerbaijan Trade Unions Confederation
“Azerbaijan newspaper” 24.12.2023