Details added (first version posted on 11:16)
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 16
Trend:
Every international forum is important, and future impact on the decision-making in the world depends on the discussed topics, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said.
He made the remarks at the opening ceremony of the 5th Global Baku Forum titled “The Future of International Relations: Power and Interests”, which kicked off in Baku March 16.
The president said that holding of this forum has already become traditional, and this is not the first time Azerbaijan holds it. He welcomed all the participants, who represent more than fifty countries at the forum, and more than two hundred sixty guests.
"Azerbaijan, as an independent country, is relatively new. Last year we celebrated the 25th Anniversary of restoration of our independence. Our activity, projects that we initiate in our country, have positive impact on the whole region is one of the ways to present our country to the world," the president said.
Azerbaijani president went on to say that since the last Baku Global Forum meeting, the world didn't become safer.
"We still have protracted conflicts, still have confrontations, wars in our region. This of course is a very dangerous tendency. Azerbaijan in its region is playing an important role as a stabilizing factor. Our initiatives aim at regional cooperation, predictability and strengthening of security measures in the region," said Ilham Aliyev.
The president went on to add that Azerbaijan is not an island, and close neighborhood is of great concern to the country. He said there are still challenges, wars, conflicts, the migrant crisis, and it is a big humanitarian catastrophe.
"At the same time, the migrant crisis also leads to, I would say, less understanding between different parts of our world. It creates certain discomfort for the people of the countries where the migrants are heading. But, this is only the consequence of what happened, because the real reason of this crisis is external political and military interference into internal affairs of these countries," he said.
The president went on to say that the migrant crisis wasn't happening five or ten years ago, it happened recently.
"So this is the consequence of, I'd say, not a very thoughtful policy towards the countries of the Middle East. And this, in turn, leads to radicalization of societies of the countries where the migrants are heading," said Ilham Aliyev.
He went on to say that unfortunately, the most attractive slogans in election campaigns are slogans very close to nationalism and anti-migrant sentiment.
"We witnessed it during last months, years. And this is the tendency. I think one of the most important issues on global agenda is to reverse this tendency backwards. More to cooperation, mutual understanding, mutual respect, rather than alienation, political confrontation and lack of dialogue of civilizations," Azerbaijan's president said.
The president said Azerbaijan is a country, which geography, to certain degree, predetermines its role in the region.
"We are investing in the dialogue of civilizations and cultures. Azerbaijan itself suffers from war, occupation, humanitarian catastrophe, as a result of Armenian aggression and occupation of its territory," Ilham Aliyev said.
"This occupation lasts for more than 20 years, and twenty percent of internationally recognized part of Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh and seven districts surrounding it, are under Armenian occupation. All the infrastructure [there has been] destroyed, all our historical, religious monuments destroyed. OSCE fact-finding mission sent delegations and groups of observers to the occupied territories, and their report clearly shows that all the buildings and historical heritage of Azerbaijan have been destroyed," he said.
"This conflict is the result of Armenian aggression against its neighbor. It is the result of separatism and war against Azerbaijan. A million of Azerbaijanis suffered from that - they became refugees and internally displaced persons. This figure is one of the highest per capita in the world. Today's population of Azerbaijan is close to ten million. When the conflict started, it was eight million. So, one million of eight million in the beginning of 1990s became homeless," President Aliyev said.
The president went on to say that at the time, Azerbaijan, being a very poor country, had to face series of political, economic and social issues.
"Economy was in chaos. There were no clear means for economic developments, and plus a million people came from the occupied territories, and they had to be taken cared of. Since that time, of course, Azerbaijan has developed. We're capable to provide decent conditions for our compatriots, but the conflict is not resolved," said Ilham Aliyev.
He went on to say that all the important international organizations adopted resolutions and decisions which demand withdrawal of occupational Armenian forces from Azerbaijani lands.
"The UN Security Council, which is a top body on international arena, adopted 4 resolutions, demanding, I quote, immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Armenian troops from the occupied territories. But these resolutions remain on paper, Armenia ignores them, and already 25 years have passed," the president said.
"This shows also that there's a lack of mechanism of implementation of decisions of international organizations, in particular UN Security Council. On the other hand, it shows again lack of consistence, because we all know that in some cases resolutions of the Security Council are implemented within days, if not hours, but in our case, it is 25 years and still there's no progress," Ilham Aliyev said.
"Our refugees and internally displaced persons cannot go back to their native land. And this we consider the policy of double standards. In general, I think, the recent developments in the world show that the policy of double standards, unfortunately, has become a kind of standard in international relations," he said.
The president added that the norms and principles of international law are being interpreted in different countries with respect to the preferences to the current political interests.
"I think this is an important issue, when we're talking about the reforms of the United Nations. And in general, the implementation of decisions of international organizations. If the adopted decisions are not implemented, not only the countries will suffer, but also the world will be in danger, because it means that any country can use its force to change situation on land, in order to occupy territories, cause sufferings of millions of people and not be punished," Ilham Aliyev said.
The president of Azerbaijan went on to add that the country has raised this issue many times in front of international organizations - about aggression, occupation and war crimes committed by Armenia against peaceful Azerbaijani citizens.
"Armenia must be sanctioned, then it will be fair, then it will be a single standard," Ilham Aliyev said.
"The conflict's resolution must be based on international law, and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan must be restored. People have the right to return to their homeland," said the president.
He went on to add that the unresolved Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict is dangerous to stability and peace.
"We want to resolve this conflict peacefully, but we want to resolve it. Armenia wants to keep the status-quo unchanged and ignores strong statements of the mediators, which are permanent members of the Security Council," said Ilham Aliyev.
He added that the US, Russia, on many occasions have said that the status quo is not acceptable and that it has to change, and that means the beginning of de-occupation of territory of Azerbaijan.
"Despite this heavy burden and the humanitarian crisis, Azerbaijan's development was rapid, it is sustainable, we have big achievements in economic transformation of our country, and I think that 25 years of freedom and independence, demonstrated that the people of Azerbaijan are not only capable to live as independent nation, but also capable to achieve success in many areas," the president said.
"If we look at economic performance of Azerbaijan, especially in the recent years, we will see that our achievements in economic area really demonstrate that we have strong political will, consolidated society. When you have unity between the government and people, you can achieve a lot, even with a conflict, and occupation," Ilham Aliyev said.