BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 26
Trend:
I have repeatedly said that the norms of international law do not work. I have repeatedly said that the great powers implement the decisions that meet their own interests and do not implement those that don’t. Otherwise, the resolutions adopted by the UN Security Council and demanding an immediate withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from our lands would not have remained on paper for 30 years, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Ilham Aliyev said addressing the meeting with a leadership and a group of military personnel of Azerbaijani Army on the occasion of the Armed Forces Day at Gulustan Palace, Trend reports.
“We have seen that the norms of international law are almost designed for small, medium-sized and not very strong countries. Large countries may ignore them and there is no enforcement mechanism. Of course, the power factor came to the fore. A few years before the war, I made it clear in my speeches: we must gather strength and this issue will be resolved by force,” the head of state said.
“At the same time, we had to gather economic strength. I can say that this factor played the leading role in our preparations. We clearly understood that we could not achieve what we wanted without economic independence. We remember the early 1990s too well. We had no money, the treasury was empty, inflation was at the level of a thousand percent, there was mass unemployment and poverty, and we were economically dependent. Therefore, gaining economic independence was one of my main responsibilities as President, and we achieved it many years ago. We do not depend on anyone today. According to economic indicators, Azerbaijan is one of the leading countries in the world today. Suffice it to say that the external debt of developed countries today exceeds their gross domestic product. In Azerbaijan, however, foreign debt accounts for less than 20 percent of the GDP. In addition, our foreign exchange reserves exceed our foreign debt six times. Therefore, gaining economic independence required great political skill and foresight in a difficult geopolitical situation and in the absence of large financial resources. But we achieved it nonetheless. Azerbaijan has not been dependent on anyone for several years. On the contrary, Azerbaijan helps others itself. Azerbaijan is a donor country. We helped more than 30 countries during the pandemic, and these countries are our friends. They, in turn, support us,” Azerbaijani president said.