BAKU, Azerbaijan, Oct. 18
Trend:
It is far more difficult to preserve independence than to gain it, President Ilham Aliyev said addressing the Azerbaijani people on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the restoration of independence, Trend reports.
"On 18 October 1991, Azerbaijan obtained the opportunity to gain independence for the second time in the 20th century and declared to the world that it was the successor of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic with the Constitutional Act “On State Independence of the Republic of Azerbaijan”.
In the first years of independence, Azerbaijan was faced with many threats and severe tests. Internal strife, arbitrariness, and incompetence in public administration, as well as a severe political and economic crisis, brought the country to the brink of civil war and called its future into question. It was under these conditions that the Azerbaijani lands were occupied by the Armenian armed forces and hundreds of thousands of our fellow compatriots were expelled from their ancestral lands. What was happening was further evidence of the fact that it is far more difficult to preserve independence than to gain it.
In this difficult period in Azerbaijan's history, great leader Heydar Aliyev returned to power at the request of the people. Only then was the threat of losing independence again prevented. In a short period of time, the fundamental principles of our country's independent domestic and foreign policy strategy were identified, public and political stability and state discipline were ensured, and the implementation of democratic reforms and the army-building process began. By signing the Contract of the Century, which has played a key role in the future of the country, Azerbaijan secured a special place on the world energy map, joined the process of integration into the global economic environment and took bold steps leading to future success," the head of state said,