Nation secures its future: Ilham Aliyev takes decisive victory
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev was overwhelmingly re-elected for the next seven -year term at Wednesday’s elections. The incumbent head of state gained over 86 percent of votes, according to preliminary tallies announced by the Central Election Commission (CEC).
The convincing victory of Ilham Aliyev in the election testified to his high political authority and strong support that the people give him.
President-elect Ilham Aliyev appealed to the nation after the announcement of preliminary results of the vote to express his gratitude to the people of Azerbaijan for the confidence demonstrated in him.
“I always feel the support of Azerbaijani people. This support gives me strength. This support is the main condition for our development. The unity of people and government is the main factor of our development in Azerbaijan,” said the head of state.
Ilham Aliyev noted that in this election, the Azerbaijani people voted for stability, security, development and progress and appraised the work done over the last 15 years.
“We have achieved all this success together with you. The unity of people and government our expedient policy have today turned Azerbaijan into a strong country,” added Ilham Aliyev.
Ilham Aliyev was first elected the President of Azerbaijan in 2003 at the age of 42 years, thus becoming one of the youngest heads of state in the world. The years of his reign are characterized by dynamic development, and rapid modernization of the country.
The merits of President Ilham Aliyev, his high professionalism and ability to consistently achieve the set goals, outstanding personal qualities and exceptional nobility brought him recognition and appreciation throughout the world.
Ilham Aliyev gained respect and great authority in the world as a strong and flexible politician, successfully defending the interests of his country in all international meetings and high-level talks.
Aliyev takes a keen interest in pursuing a multi-vector international policy based on the national interests, maintaining a balance between the centers of power, which ensures the stability in the country even today, when a significant part of the Middle East and a number of post-Soviet countries are plunged into the zone of destabilization.
It is under his leadership that Azerbaijan today is rightly considered the political and economic center of power in the region. Thanks to his policy Azerbaijan became a country without the participation of which no transnational project is implemented.
Today Azerbaijan has become the most rapidly developing country in the world, and one of the most competitive world economies.
Political stability and high economic growth maintained in Azerbaijan during his presidency in the last decade are regarded as the major reason for his decisive victory. The country’s economy has grown 3.4-fold in the last decade, while the level of poverty reduced approximately 10 times. The country attracted $180 billion worth of investment to its economy.
This is the result of serious economic and social policy carried out in the country during Ilham Aliyev’s presidency. This policy helped Azerbaijan considerably strengthen its economic potential in the past 15 years.
The purposeful program of reforms by Ilham Aliyev allowed the country in the shortest time to achieve serious progress in the development of different spheres including economy, especially, in the non-oil sector, and provide an economic growth being independent from the oil factor.
According to ratings of the leading international organizations, Azerbaijan has been developing even at a time the rest of the world faced economic and financial crisis. The country’s economy was ranked among the top 35 economies of the world in terms of competitiveness.
President Aliyev has been doing his utmost to preserve stability and the atmosphere of friendship in the country. Today, Azerbaijan is a real example of intercultural, interreligious and inter-civilization dialogue. The representatives of different ethnic groups and faiths have been living here throughout centuries in an atmosphere of peace, mutual understanding and dialogue.
Under the leadership of Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijan has established itself as a brilliant organizer of international sporting events, including the 1st European Games, the 4th Islamic Solidarity Games and Formula 1 Grand Prix of Azerbaijan, the last of which was recognized as the most spectacular race of 2017 thanks to a track built in the heart of Baku.