BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 14
Trend:
There is no force in the world today that can impose any solution on us or dictate anything to us, said Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev addressing the first session of the Azerbaijani Parliament’s sixth convocation on March 10, Trend reports.
“There is no such force out there and as long as I am president, there won’t be any,” said the head of state.
“We live in an age of information, and the circulation of the so-called fake news is unfortunately widespread. And any false information can lead to major consequences. We in Azerbaijan have long been faced with these slanderous campaigns. The main reason for this is our independent policy because we do not bow our heads to anyone. And the consequences of this are that an information campaign is being waged against us – a smear campaign, a campaign built on lies, slander and fabrications. Therefore, there must definitely be new approaches in the legislation, new thoughts related to the protection of information, information security,” said the head of state.
He noted that Azerbaijan is a social state, and all our steps confirm this.
“The socially oriented package implemented on my initiative last year alone covers 4.2 million people. The regular increase in the minimum wage and minimum pension, of course, requires major economic sources, and we are creating them. The processes taking place in our country in relation to transparency, the processes aimed against the shadow economy strengthen our economic opportunities, expand our tax base and deal a serious blow to the shadow economy. Therefore, all these issues should certainly be the spotlight of laws,” said the head of state.
President Ilham Aliyev noted that young people constitute the vast majority of the population of Azerbaijan, the demographic picture in Azerbaijan is very positive.
“Therefore, of course, it is necessary to take legislative steps towards effective organization of youth leisure, engaging it in active work, for example the volunteer movement, and educating them in the spirit of patriotism. Young people should be raised in the national spirit, not fall under external influence, especially in the current age of the Internet when any lie that is subsequently presented as a reality circulates very fast. This is a part of the shady policy being pursued against us because it is no secret that the public and political situation in Azerbaijan is currently very stable,” said the head of state.
President Ilham Aliyev pointed out that there is not a single factor in Azerbaijan that can pose a threat to public and political stability.
“This is why the anti-Azerbaijani forces are trying to create these factors outside our country. They no longer rely on the group that calls itself the opposition here and supposedly continues to operate in an absolutely shameful position. And there is no more confidence for them. So work is underway to create a new fifth column because the current fifth column does not justify the confidence of its owners. They could not carry out a coup in Azerbaijan, perform a “revolution" or win popular support, and simply appropriated the money given to them on a regular basis and thus left their patrons high and dry. Therefore, a new fifth column is being sought. In this regard, I want to strictly warn all political forces: this is a path of betrayal. Whoever follows this path will commit treason against the people and state. Therefore, all our internal problems should be resolved within Azerbaijan. We should not export our domestic problems or political discord. First of all, it is absolutely pointless because there is no force in the world today that can impose any solution on us or dictate anything to us. There is no such force out there and as long as I am president, there won’t be any. Therefore, it is absolutely pointless. Attempts to exert pressure on Azerbaijan or threaten us with sanctions are all completely meaningless. This is a crime against the state, not against the government, and let no-one forget that,” said the head of state.
“In recent years, we have faced different forms of pressure, different campaigns, but we never turned away from our path,” said the president.
“The calm of our country and people, security, stability, the well-being of our people and the independent policy are above everything else for us. We cooperate with international organizations, are a member of some organizations, we entered them of our own accord and can of our own accord as well – if something doesn’t suit us in these organizations at some point or if prejudice against us reaches an extent too high for us to tolerate. Therefore, I believe that representatives of all political bodies should be very careful in this area,” said the head of state.