Baku, Azerbaijan, March 15
Trend:
In a very short time, the Global Baku Forum has transformed into a very important platform to address important issues on global agenda, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said.
He made the remarks at the opening of the VI Global Baku Forum titled "Bridging Gaps to Create Inclusive Societies".
"Among our guests there are representatives of more than fifty countries, more than 450 guests. Among them are 47 acting and former heads of states and governments, prominent politicians, statesmen, scientists, representatives of civil society," said the president.
"During the work of the forum I am sure that we will broadly discuss the issues which are on top agenda of international relations and also I am sure there will be important recommendations in order to provide security, stability, predictability and cooperation in the world," he noted.
President Aliyev went on to add that Azerbaijan has already hosted many international events.
"Among them are - traditional Baku Humanitarian Forum, regular International Forum on Intercultural Dialogue, World Religious Leaders forum, UN Alliance of Civilizations Global Forum," he said.
The president also reminded that Azerbaijan hosted the inaugural European Games in 2015 and 4th Islamic Solidarity Games in 2017.
"All these events serve the cause of cooperation, these events build bridges, establish more understanding between representatives of different countries, different religions, different views," he said.
He went on to say that this year marks the 10th anniversary of the Baku Process, which has now full support of the United Nations, and which is a unique platform of cooperation between the member countries of the Council of Europe and the members of the Islamic Cooperation Organization.
"Azerbaijan, as a member of both international organizations, initiated the meeting of the ministers of culture of both organizations in Baku, in 2008. Now, the Baku Process embraces the very broad activity in order to create better understanding between international organizations and peoples," he said.
The president also said that representatives of all religions and all ethnic groups live in Azerbaijan as one family in peace and dignity.
"In today's world, I think, it's a big asset. And we also want to share our experience, and I think that today's development of modern Azerbaijan illustrates that this is the only right policy," he said.
The president went on to add that inclusive society is now one of the issues of the global agenda.
"Of course, all our efforts are aimed at strength and security, which we all need in the world, especially in our region," he said.
President Aliyev said Azerbaijan unfortunately suffered from aggression and occupation of the neighboring Armenia, which occupied almost 20 percent of Azerbaijani territories, brutally violates the international law norms, committed ethnic cleansing policy against Azerbaijanis, as a result of which over 1 million of Azerbaijanis became refugees and IDPs.
Ilham Aliyev also reminded that Armenia committed a war crime - the genocide in Khojaly, which today is recognized by more than 10 countries. He went on to say that as a result of the Khojaly massacre, 613 innocent people, including 106 women and 63 children, were killed. Moreover, more than 1,000 are still missing.
"This is a crime against humanity, and this was part of the aggression policy against Azerbaijan, said President Aliyev.
"Nagorno-Karabakh is our ancient land, and for centuries Azerbaijanis lived on those territories. Now, everything is destroyed on our occupied lands - historical buildings, monuments, graves, etc. And this is reflected in the OSCE's two assessment missions sent to the occupied territories. This is also a genocide against our cultural heritage," he said.
The president went on to add that the conflict resolution should be based on laws and principles of international law. He also reminded about the UN Security Council resolutions adopted in the early 1990s, which demand immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Armenian troops from our territories.
"Unfortunately, these resolutions are not implemented, and no sanctions were imposed on Armenia - the country which violates the UN Security Council resolutions for more than 20 years. Other international organizations, like the OSCE, the Islamic Cooperation Organization, the European Parliament, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the Non-Alignment Movement, adopted similar resolutions," Ilham Aliyev said.
"Historical truth, international law is on our side. The only reason why the conflict is not yet resolved is because Armenia doesn't want to free the occupied territories. Not just Nagorno-Karabakh, but also seven surrounding districts of Azerbaijan, which are under occupation as well," he said.
He went on to say that the status quo is unacceptable, it is not sustainable.
"This is not our position, this is the position of the leading world countries, particularly those, who have mandate from the OSCE to be mediators of the conflict - the US, Russia, France. The presidents of these countries, have, on many occasions, openly stated that the status quo is unacceptable and it has to be changed. The status quo must be changed, Armenia must start the immediate withdrawal of its troops from the occupied territories and allow Azerbaijani people to return to their homeland," Ilham Aliyev said.
The president said that this conflict is not only the biggest injustice in modern history, it is also a source of permanent threat and instability in the not very stable region.
"Therefore, the soonest resolution of the conflict based on principles of international law, the UN Security Council resolutions, the Helsinki Final Act, must be achieved and then peace will come to our region," said Azerbaijan's president.
Despite the conflict, Azerbaijan continues to develop, said Ilham Aliyev.
"Our economic and social development is reflected in figures. It is reflected in today's appearance of our cities and villages. We invested largely in human capital," said the president.
He also reminded that Azerbaijan is among the three cities that submitted bids for hosting the Expo 2025 exhibition.
"We concentrate on human capital and always stated publicly that it is people of Azerbaijan who are in the center of our policy," he said.
"During the last 15 years, a lot has been done in order to reduce poverty and unemployment [in Azerbaijan], which today stand at the level of 5 percent each. This was one of the biggest achievements of our government, because we all remember the difficult times of the early 1990s and serious economic and social problems in our country," he said.
"Now, with respect to the level of poverty and unemployment, Azerbaijan is among the leaders in the world," Ilham Aliyev said.
"We largely invested in education, health care. More than 3,100 schools, more than 600 hospitals have been built [in Azerbaijan], in the last 15 years," said Ilham Aliyev.
"Azerbaijan is a country where people are getting annual medical checkups free of charge, and more than 5 million people every year have this opportunity," said the president. "This is our policy."
However, President Aliyev further said that just intentions and policy is not enough.
"Our concentration in the previous years was to achieve economic independence, not only to be able to serve better the needs of people, but also in order to strengthen our political independence, because it is clear that when a country is dependent economically, the ability to conduct independent foreign policy is limited," he said.
"In our case, our rapid economic growth allowed us to conduct independent foreign policy, which is based on interests of Azerbaijani people and universal values," Ilham Aliyev said.
President Aliyev said that Azerbaijan's economy grew by 3.2 times in 15 years, which is a record by itself.
"Our reforms are highly valued by the leading international financial institutions. The Davos World Economic Forum ranks Azerbaijan #35th in terms of global competitiveness. I think this is a historical achievement, so we are among the 35 most competitive countries in the world. For a country that has been independent for only 26 years, I think this is a really big achievement," he said.
"Another Davos assessment refers to inclusive development index, and here Azerbaijan is #3. Ahead of us are only 30 developed countries and two developing countries," Ilham Aliyev said. "So, this is the assessment of the leading international, political and financial institutions towards our reforms."
"Our reforms bring good results, and as a result of the reforms, we are among the leading countries in terms of direct investments per capita," said the president. "The total amount of investments in our economy during the last 15 years was more than $230 billion, with half of that accounting for foreign investments. So, Azerbaijan's economic policy has already proven to be successful, and of course, it allows us to invest not only in the country, but also in the region, and to create better platform for regional cooperation," said President Aliyev.
The president went on to add that of course Azerbaijan is famous for its energy resources.
"The first oil well in the world was drilled in Azerbaijan, in Baku. Azerbaijan is a country today which opened its energy potential to the world. We are the first country to invite foreign oil companies to work in the Caspian Sea, and this cooperation has been lasting for 24 years already, bringing good results to us and our partners," Ilham Aliyev said.
"Together with our neighbors and friends, Georgia and Turkey, we implemented important transportation projects like Baku-Tbilisi-Jeyhan oil pipeline, Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline. Both are bringing our hydrocarbons to international markets. Azerbaijan became a transit country for oil from the other side of the Caspian Sea," said the president.
He went on to add that today Azerbaijan is working closely with partners in a broad format on one of the biggest infrastructure projects in the energy sector - the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC). Noting that SGC is a historical project, Ilham Aliyev said that it unites seven countries and has the potential to attract more countries.
"This is a $40-billion project of production, transportation, distribution of natural gas from Azerbaijan," he said. "It starts in Baku and ends in Europe. So this is a really big contribution to the energy security of the region and Europe," he noted.
President Aliyev went on to say that energy security is part of national security of many countries.
"Today, oil from Azerbaijan for some European countries makes about 40 percent of the energy balance, and Azerbaijani gas will also strengthen energy security of European countries," said the president.
"This year, we will inaugurate one of the most important segments of the Southern Gas Corridor project, in particular, the first gas from the Shah Deniz 2 gas field. The inauguration of the South Caucasus pipeline, which connects Azerbaijan with Georgia and Trans-Anatolian Pipeline, which is the pipeline on the Turkish territory, these are the most important parts of the SGC. Everything is going in accordance with the plan, and hopefully soon we will celebrate the historical inauguration of this project, Ilham Aliyev said.
He went on to say that regional cooperation between Azerbaijan and Turkey is not only serving the benefits of the mentioned countries, but also has importance for the entire region.
"Last October we inaugurated another historical project - the railroad connection between the three countries, but actually - between the continents, because this railroad is the shortest transportation route from Asia to Europe. It will take two weeks, instead of more than one month to bring goods from Asia to Europe and vice versa," said Ilham Aliyev.
He underscored that Baku-Tbilisi-Kars is a railroad project of global importance.
"I am very glad that in a very short period of time, in less than six months since the inauguration, we see the growing interest to this project. We see new partners in Central Asia, in Europe, which are looking at this project with big interest and big hopes," he said.
"Now we are at the stage of cooperation. We coordinate our efforts, because we not only need to have shortest route, but also an economically competitive route, so we could attract cargoes, not only because of time, but also because of costs. This is what we're actively working on," said the president.
"So, this is actually the most important part of our activity, which has international exposure, international importance," Ilham Aliyev said.
He continued, saying that Azerbaijan's contribution to international cooperation has many dimensions.
"Our effort is to create more understanding between Asia and Europe, between Europe and the Muslim world. Our energy transportation projects bring benefits to peoples, create tens of thousands of jobs and thus help develop countries," he noted.
"Our roles as stabilizing factor in the region is also appreciated. Therefore, we see the benefits of this policy. Our policy has always been cooperation, mutual support, prosperity, stability and predictability," Ilham Aliyev said.
He went on to add that the relations that Azerbaijan has established with its neighbors set an example of good neighborhood.
"Today in Baku for the first time there will be a meeting of ministers of foreign affairs of four countries of the region - Azerbaijan, Iran, Georgia and Turkey. Prior to that, we already had and have trilateral formats of cooperation: Azerbaijan-Iran-Turkey, Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey, Azerbaijan-Iran-Russia. All these formats serve the cause of stability and peace, economic development, energy and transportation projects which we are now implementing. They serve the benefits of all the countries," Ilham Aliyev said.
"Only in this case, we can achieve success. We will never be able to become a transit country without neighbors. And if you don't have good relations with neighbors, no matter how matter how much you invest, you will fail. Therefore, good neighbor relations is very important for every country," the president said.
He went on to add that Azerbaijan has very strong positions in international organizations.
"Next month we will host the meeting of the foreign ministers of the Non-Aligned Movement. Azerbaijan is a relatively new member in this important international organization, but it already got strong support, so this ministerial meeting is one of the reflections of that," said President Aliyev.
He went on to remind that Azerbaijan is also working with the EU on the new partnership agreement.
"It will be a very comprehensive document, which will cover many areas of political, economic cooperation, security, energy, transportation, cultural diversity," he said.
"So, in short, this is how we see our role in our region, in the world, and what we've achieved by pursuing these goals. Again, our policy is aimed at cooperation, friendship and partnership. As I said before, the results of modern Azerbaijan demonstrate that we're on the right track," said Ilham Aliyev.
He then went on to announce that in two months, Azerbaijan will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first Azerbaijani Democratic Republic (ADR).
"We're very proud that it were Azerbaijanis who created, for the first time in the Muslim world, a democratic republic, which we now can be proud of," he said.
"For the first time in the Muslim world, Azerbaijani people have shown that they want to live in a free society, they want to live in a society where all the rights of all the people are protected," said Ilham Aliyev.
He went on to add that the role of Azerbaijani Democratic Republic in development of today's Azerbaijan is very big.
"At the same time, even a hundred years ago, they made important decisions, which we are proud of. One of them was granting women with right to vote, much earlier than in many European countries," President Aliyev said.
"Unfortunately, the life of the first Azerbaijani Democratic Republic was short, less than two years, and the tragic end of the republic also is a good lesson to all of us. It is a lot more difficult to preserve real independence, than to obtain it. And today's Azerbaijan is a truly independent country, with a very clear vision of the future," he noted.
"I think that if the founders of the first Azerbaijani Democratic Republic had the chance to see how Azerbaijan developed today, they definitely would've been proud of us. And we're proud of them, we demonstrate to ourselves and the world that only during independence people can achieve success, with their destiny in their hands, they can be successful. Azerbaijan is a good example of that."