BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 17
Trend:
Azerbaijan has passed a development path equal to a century and has now joined the ranks of strong countries on a global scale, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said in his speech at a meeting on the results of 2019, Trend reports.
"Today we will talk about the results of last year and exchange views on the work to be done. I can say that, in general, 2019 was a successful year for our country. All the goals we set ourselves at the beginning of the year have been successfully met and the country's sustainable development has been ensured. Thus, great strides have been made in political, economic and social spheres. Azerbaijan lived in stability. Stability is the main condition for the development of any country," President Ilham Aliyev said.
The head of state noted that throughout the year, we observed an increase in tensions in various places around the world.
"Bloody clashes, wars, public protests, police violence, flagrant violation of human rights, breach of democratic values – all this was observed practically throughout the world. Tensions are growing in Europe, Asia, Latin America, in post-Soviet countries, in our region, in the Middle East, in the world. Azerbaijan is developing as a stable place. The Azerbaijani people are the guarantor of stability in Azerbaijan. The will of the Azerbaijani people is the main guarantor of stability in Azerbaijan. Popular support and a high assessment of our policies inspire us even more and, at the same time, ensure stability in the political and economic spheres in our country. When stability is disrupted, crises and chaos occur in countries, which does them a great deal of harm. We saw this in our own history in the early 1990s. Stability in Azerbaijan was disrupted, the country was gripped by crisis and we suffered heavy losses. But Azerbaijan has been living in the conditions of stability for 26 years now. Over these years, our country has passed a very long development path. I can say that our country has passed a development path equal to a century and has now joined the ranks of strong countries on a global scale," President Ilham Aliyev said.
The head of state underlined that the facts already noted clearly confirm that Azerbaijan's international positions are strong enough and were further strengthened last year.
The head of state noted that a summit of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-speaking states has been held in our country, and Azerbaijan has taken over chairmanship in this organization.
"Our country has also hosted a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement. Within the framework of this summit, by a unanimous decision of 120 member-countries, Azerbaijan assumed chairmanship in this second largest international institution after the UN. I want to emphasize this fact because certain countries that are members of the Non-Aligned Movement do not get along with each other, if I may say so. There are conflicts and disagreements between them. Despite this, all countries supported the candidacy of Azerbaijan. This once again shows the high level of respect and trust in us in the international arena. The second summit of religious leaders of the world was also held in our country. Religious leaders of 70 countries arrived in Azerbaijan, got acquainted with our realities and praised the work our country has been doing in the interreligious and intercultural sphere. A session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee has been held in Azerbaijan. This is also a very reputable event on a global scale. As part of the session, the Palace of Sheki Khans and the central part of Sheki were included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. I believe that this is a very important event because Gobustan, Icherisheher and the Shirvanshahs Palace had been included in this authoritative list earlier. I believe that the inclusion of the Palace of Sheki Khans on this list is a fair decision and yet another great success of ours," President Ilham Aliyev said.
"I would also like to draw your attention to another international event – the International Astronautical Congress held in Washington last year," President Ilham Aliyev said.
"This is the most prestigious event in the field of astronautics. The congress passed the decision to hold the International Congress of Astronautics in 2022 in Azerbaijan. This is also a very important event – both the congress itself and the fact that along with Baku, three other big cities participated in this competition - Rio de Janeiro, Singapore and Delhi. Azerbaijan won this difficult competition. In other words, this is a sign of the great attention being paid to our work and a manifestation of the confidence placed in Azerbaijan as a whole. I must also note that the International Congress of Astronautics was held in the Soviet Union only once – almost 50 years ago, in 1973 – and it was held in Baku. At that time, thanks to the efforts of Heydar Aliyev, it was Baku that was selected to host this congress. After almost 50 years, this congress will once again be held in Baku, the capital city of the already independent Azerbaijan, the city of Baku. Many important events have occurred on the international plane. I am simply highlighting the main issues. The facts already noted clearly confirm that our international positions are strong enough and were further strengthened last year."