Ilham Aliyev: Unity of power and people is main condition for our success

The inauguration ceremony of Azerbaijani President Ilham-Aliyev, during which he vowed to defend the independence and territorial integrity of the state and to serve the people with dignity, was held at the Parliament on April 18.

The ceremony was attended by the country’s officials, members of the government, MPs and the President's family.

Chairman of Azerbaijan’s Constitutional Court Farhad-Abdullayev announced that the Constitutional Court, having approved the conclusions of the Central Election Commission on the results of the Azerbaijani presidential election by its resolution dated April 17, 2018, declared Ilham-Aliyev the president of Azerbaijan.

Then, President Aliyev laid his hand on the Constitution of Azerbaijan and swore an oath.

“Exercising the authority of the Azerbaijani president, I swear to observe the Constitution of Azerbaijan, to defend the independence and territorial integrity of the state and to serve the people with dignity,” he said.

After the national anthem was played, the President also swore an oath by laying his hand on the Holy Quran.

“By laying my hand on the Holy Quran, I swear to be committed to the national and spiritual values and traditions created by the Azerbaijani people for centuries and constantly cherish them,” said Ilham-Aliyev.

Having knelt, President Aliyev kissed the national flag of Azerbaijan.

Addressing the event, Ilham-Aliyev expressed deep gratitude to the Azerbaijani people for showing high confidence in him in this election.

“I have always felt and feel the support of the Azerbaijani people. This support gives me strength. I rely on this support, and I want to once again assure the people that I will continue to serve to the people, to the Motherland with dignity,” he said.

The presidential election has reflected the will of the Azerbaijani people, according to the head of state.

“The Azerbaijani people appreciated the work done, voted for the work done, for development, progress, security and our future development,” he said.

The President noted that the election was held fairly and transparently. The polls conducted by local and international organizations before the election and the exit-polls carried out by international and local organizations on the Election Day coincide with the official results of the election, he noted.

“On the eve of the 2003 presidential election, I addressed the people saying that if the people express confidence in me, I will stay devoted to the policy of the National Leader Heydar-Aliyev and will continue this policy. I am proud that the people believed in me, supported me, and I, for my part, kept my words,” he said.

President Aliyev pointed out that comprehensive development has been ensured in Azerbaijan over the last 15 years.

During these 15 years, very dangerous processes have been taking place in different regions of the world, in our region, in Europe: bloody clashes, wars, civil wars, coups, he noted.

“In Azerbaijan, however, the people have lived in security. We eliminated all internal risks, we protected ourselves from external risks, we continue to protect ourselves today, and, I am confident, we will continue to do so. These 15 years, the Azerbaijani people have lived in stability, and this is the main condition for our development. We see that when there is no stability, there can be no development. When there is no stability, external intervention occurs, countries become uncontrollable, fraternal blood is shed, and the future of countries is put under question,” he added.

The head of state went on to say that in Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijani people and state policy are the guarantors of stability.

“Therefore, the unity of power and the people is the main condition for our success. Today, Azerbaijan is known in the world as an island of stability, and this is our great achievement,” he noted.

Ilham-Aliyev also stressed that democratic development in Azerbaijan has been very rapid over the last 15 years

All freedoms have been ensured in Azerbaijan and I believe that these 15 years have been very successful in terms of democratic development, he said.

“We have ensured all freedoms – freedom of speech, freedom of press, freedom of assembly, freedom of political activity – by deepening political reforms. It is sufficient to note that today 80 percent of Azerbaijani citizens are internet users and there is a freedom of internet in Azerbaijan. That’s to say, we have a very right policy on democratic development and it meets our national interests. We do it not to make someone like us, but to even more deepen political reforms in Azerbaijan, to ensure that Azerbaijani people have their fate in their own hands, as it is today. The election and its results prove this once again,” said the head of state.

Positive tendencies in the culture of political struggle have been observed for the last 15 years in Azerbaijan, and the presidential election campaign shows this once again, according to President Aliyev.

“Rather harsh criticism sounded in the speeches of candidates. I welcome this and regard this as a positive phenomenon. This shows that political struggle is taking place in the right direction. I should note that the issues raised by candidates during the presidential election campaigns will be carefully considered and valuable proposals will be taken into account. In a word, over these 15 years we have tried that civilized political struggle is ensured in Azerbaijan, and to a large extent we have achieved it. By using this opportunity, I would like to express my gratitude to all the candidates who took part in the election and I wish them success in their future activities. As for anti-national groups, they were completely marginalized, and this election once again showed that there is no place in the political arena of Azerbaijan for such groups,” he said.

The President went on to say that our country has been active in international organizations over the past 15 years and will continue to be active.

“International organizations support Azerbaijan's position; particularly, international organizations support our fair position on settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. It is enough to say that over the past 15 years, many of the most influential international organizations have accepted our proposal on the conflict and adopted very important resolutions. There it is indicated that the conflict should be resolved within the territorial integrity of our country,” he said.

President Aliyev recalled that the UN General Assembly, the NonAligned Movement, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the European Parliament, the Economic Cooperation Organization, GUAM and other organizations have adopted resolutions supporting Azerbaijan's position on the conflict.

“In the past, the UN Security Council and the OSCE adopted resolutions that create a legal framework for settlement of the conflict,” he added.

President Aliyev stressed that Azerbaijan has been able to fully secure the support of international organizations in issue of settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan NagornoKarabakh conflict.

“We have exposed the occupation policy of Armenia. We have achieved Armenia's isolation from all regional projects today. The resolutions of the UN Security Council are the main and legal basis for settlement of the conflict. We have been able to prove to the world that we are right. Although campaigns are carried out against us, Armenian lobby organizations carry out campaigns against us. However, these campaigns have failed to affect the decisions of international organizations. We have achieved political and diplomatic success. No one recognizes the so-called Nagorno-Karabakh and I am sure that no one will recognize it. The so-called referendum held there was condemned by our neighbors and international organizations,” he said.

President Aliyev further reminded that Nagorno-Karabakh is the historical land of Azerbaijan.

President Aliyev emphasized that Azerbaijan informs the world community and public that not only Nagorno-Karabakh, but also the modern Armenia is the historical land of Azerbaijan.

“We convey it to the world community not with word alone, but with proofs. Scientific works are written, archives are studied and historical books are written. There is enough historical evidence to prove that. In the early 19th century, 80 percent of population of the Irevan Khanate was Azerbaijanis. We have been subjected to several deportations. We must convey all this, and we do convey, and this is yielding results,” he said.

Our principled position on the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is supported by the Azerbaijani people, said the head of state.

“We will not refuse from this policy, we will isolate the occupant from all work, regional affairs also in the years to come, and expose them. In the coming years, our power will grow, because big initiatives and projects being realized today will increase our strength,” he said.

President Aliyev further stressed that army building policy is the only right policy.

“Today the Azerbaijani army is among the strong armies on the global scale. Our army is among the strong ones in terms of equipment, ammunition, weaponry, machinery and combat capability. We provide our army with everything it needs. We buy the most modern weapons and will continue to do so,” he said.

The head of state underlined that the enemy also saw the strength of the Azerbaijani army.

“The April fights are our glorious history, our great victory. Azerbaijan's army liberated parts of the territories of Agdere, Fizuli and Jabrayil districts. We control thousands of hectares of territories. Life is returning to these lands and the Azerbaijani flag is flying on these lands. People have returned and a new settlement has been established. Our military victory shows the strength of the Azerbaijani people, their invincible spirit. It shows that the Azerbaijani people will never accept this occupation and we will liberate our lands. We need to be even stronger in order to achieve this and we will be so,” he said.

President Aliyev noted that the Jojug-Marjanli settlement has turned into a symbol of our revival.

“The life which has returned to Jojug-Marjanli makes every Azerbaijani glad and proud. Armenians, the vandals, the Armenian leadership have committed genocide against our historical monuments as well and destroyed our mosques. But they do not understand that the destroyed mosques live in our hearts, we have erected the destroyed mosques in our hearts. After liberating the lands from occupation, we brought a mosque similar to the Shusha mosque, destroyed by the vandals, to JojugMarjanli, built it there and today, our people can pray on these lands. This shows that we will never accept the occupation,” he added.

Touching upon the economy of the country, the President said that Azerbaijan’s success in the economic sphere is a historic achievement.

“Over the past 15 years, we have carried out economic reforms and paid special attention to economic issues, because, as I have repeatedly said and life has shown this as well, only economically strong countries can pursue independent policy,” he said.

If a country depends on a loan or another state, it can never pursue an independent policy, according to IlhamAliyev.

“So we tried to achieve economic independence and succeeded. Now we don’t depend on any loan, we issue loans ourselves. Our government debt is 20 percent of GDP. I have set the task - in the coming years, we must bring our government debt to an even lower level,” he said.

President Aliyev noted that over the last 15 years, Azerbaijan’s economy has grown 3.2 times.

“This is a very big indicator. Of course, the oil factor plays a special role. However, along with this, our non-oil exports have increased more than four times over the past 15 years. This shows that our reforms have a big effect. Industrial production grew 2.6 times. Azerbaijan’s foreign exchange reserves grew 24 times and now make up $44 billion. More than $230 billion have been invested in our country. Azerbaijan has an excellent investment climate,” he noted.

IlhamAliyev stressed that our country will continue receiving foreign and domestic investments.

“The Davos World Economic Forum ranked Azerbaijan 35th in terms of global competitiveness. Azerbaijan was ranked third in terms of inclusive development among the developing countries. All these indicators clearly show that Azerbaijan’s success in the economic sphere is a historic achievement,” he said.

Speaking about energy sphere in the country’s economy, President Aliyev underlined that Azerbaijan has changed Europe’s and Eurasia’s energy map.

“Over these years, we have managed to make really historic achievements. The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, the foundation of which was laid by the National Leader HeydarAliyev, was commissioned in 2006, and thereby, we started to receive big revenues,” he said.

The head of state went on to add that a year later, the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline turned Azerbaijan into a gas exporter.

“At present, we are engaged in the implementation of the Southern Gas Corridor,” he noted. “We are successfully implementing a very complex project. This is a very capital-intensive project both from the economic and technical point of view.”

President Aliyev noted that the investments in the Southern Gas Corridor project amount to $40 billion and the major part of these funds are provided by foreign partners and banks.

“Three projects included in the Southern Gas Corridor – Shah Deniz 2, South Caucasus Pipeline and TANAP – will be commissioned this year. We have already changed the energy map of Europe and Eurasia. In the years to come, Azerbaijan will act as a country supplying very important energy resources to world markets. For sure, we will receive additional revenues, which will be used for our country’s development,” he said.

President Aliyev also underscored that important steps related to the future development of the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli fields have been taken over these years.

“A new contract was signed. The contract was extended until 2050 and we managed to increase our share. At the same time, we got a bonus worth $3.6 billion and its first part has already gone to the treasury. In the next years, we will work with partners on other promising structures in the oil and gas sector,” he said.

The head of state noted that Azerbaijan has almost reached its goal in the oil and gas sector and the Southern Gas Corridor will be fully commissioned in one or two years.

Turning to the technology development, President Aliyev stated that it is necessary to introduce the latest technologies in Azerbaijan.

He stressed that a great attention was paid to new technologies over the past years in the country.

“Azerbaijan has entered the space club, which includes a limited number of countries. Today, we have two satellites and the third is planned to be launched into orbit. Azerbaijan demonstrates leadership in this sphere as well. This shows that we are looking into the future and the future linked with scientific and technological development,” he said.

The successful development of each state is based on technological provision, according to the President.

“That is why we pay attention to education, science and should pay even more attention in the coming years,” he added.

President Aliyev went on to say that latest technologies need to be introduced in Azerbaijan.

“To achieve this, we must have a prepared personnel, and work in this direction will continue in the following years,” he said, concluding the speech.

Following the inauguration ceremony, President Aliyev, accompanied by his family members, visited the Alley of Honors to lay a wreath at the tomb of national leader HeydarAliyev.

The head of state and his family members put flowers at the grave of prominent ophthalmologist, academician ZarifaAliyeva. They also placed flowers at the graves of state figure Aziz Aliyev and Professor TamerlanAliyev.

President IlhamAliyev together with his family members also visited the Alley of Martyrs.

The head of state paid respect to Azerbaijani heroes who gave their lives for the country`s independence and territorial integrity, laying the flowers at the Eternal Flame monument.

President Aliyev and his family members also visited the National Flag Square. Chief of the guard of honor reported to President, Commander-in-Chief IlhamAliyev. The head of state saluted the soldiers.

Following the national anthem of Azerbaijan, a salute was fired in honor of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Commander-in-Chief IlhamAliyev.

The guard of honor passed in front of the head of state under the accompaniment of a military march.

Azerbaijan held presidential election on April 11, as a result of which IlhamAliyev garnered 86.02 percent of votes, securing his position as the head of state for the next seven years.