BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 9. An international forum themed “Facing the New World Order” was held on April 9 at ADA University with the participation of President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, Trend reports.
The head of state responded to questions from the forum participants.
Opening the forum, Rector of ADA University Hafiz Pashayev said: Mr. President, distinguished participants of the conference. It is my pleasure and honor to welcome you and all participants to ADA University. We are immensely proud to host this international policy discussion for the seventh time, and we are very grateful to President Aliyev for his support and participation in each of these conferences. In the past years, more than 200 experts and scholars from 60 countries have attended our discussions held in Baku and four cities of the liberated Karabakh, and later published many articles on regional and global issues. This year, the ADA University international conference brings together a record number of 80 foreign participants. More than 50% of the participants are joining us for the first time. The topic of the conference is very relevant to the current state of global affairs. The world is undergoing tectonic changes: regional and global conflicts, radicalization of the political scene, rise of nationalism and attacks on multiple cultures, multilateralism, weakening of international law, and the dominance of power, force, and violence — these are common characteristics of today's world. And we must add to this climate issues, immigration problems, protectionism, and trade wars. What kind of future are we expecting? What will be the new global order? What is the role of countries like Azerbaijan in these developments and trends?
Mr. President, after our trip yesterday to Karabakh and Khankendi, where we witnessed an impressive level of reconstruction and development, today we are honored to hear your views on these global and regional issues as one of the most experienced leaders in the world. We believe that your interaction with the participants and the follow-up panels will help to better shape and communicate the vision for peace in this region and around the world. I believe that our guests will leave Baku with more knowledge and positive impressions about Azerbaijan’s rapid transformation and development. We thank you, Mr. President, once again for your time, and we look forward to your remarks. Please, Mr. President, the floor is yours.
President Ilham Aliyev: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. First of all, I would like to welcome you all to Azerbaijan, and express my gratitude to the ADA University, and its leadership and its Rector, Professor Pashayev, for the initiative to launch this process.
As it has already been said, it’s the 7th time that a big group of international experts from different countries has visited Azerbaijan to address important issues of the global agenda. At the same time, all these visits help people know Azerbaijan better, feel the pulse of the country.
After the liberation of the historical territories of Azerbaijan, the regular visits of international experts to the liberated territories, of course, provide more information about the history of our country. The history of the conflict and, of course, today’s reality of Azerbaijan cannot be separated from our glorious victory in the Second Karabakh War and also from the unique precedent of the restoration of the country’s territorial integrity without international support by its own means through military-political means.
As Rector Pashayev said, you visited Khankendi yesterday. This city, which unfortunately for many years — for more than three decades — was a center of Armenian separatism in Azerbaijan. Actually, the separatist movement, inspired and sponsored by Armenia, started in that city. This is the historical land of Azerbaijan. The very name Khankendi demonstrates its Azerbaijani origin and roots, which means the village of the Khan.
After the illegal and absolutely groundless — from a political, historical, and cultural point of view — decision of the Soviet government to create the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous District in Azerbaijan’s Karabakh region, unfortunately launched the process, which led to aggressive separatism.
The creation of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous District in 1923, was actually a time bomb, which exploded when it was needed for separatists, their sponsors, and various actors who used the conflict for their political purposes.
We put an end to that a year and a half ago, with a military operation lasting less than 24 hours, which actually was the last point in our battle for sovereignty. So, you've been there, and you witnessed what happened. I think the best demonstration of today's Azerbaijan's reality is the visit to the regions - particularly the regions that suffered from devastation and Armenian occupation. I will now probably conclude my introductory remarks to leave more room for discussions. I'm sure that yesterday's discussions, today's, and the interaction between the experts will help all of us elaborate joint approaches and exchange views on the rapidly changing world, which is already absolutely different from what it was when we met last time, last year.
Thank you very much once again for being with us. I wish you a pleasant stay in Azerbaijan.
Assistant to the President Hikmet Hajiyev: Thank you, Mr. President. With your permission, we'd like to start our discussion session. A substantial number of the participants have signed up to ask their questions, and we'll start first with Svante Cornell, Sweden.
Svante Cornell: Thank you very much, Mr. President. It's wonderful to see you again. I would like to ask you, because we have seen Azerbaijan has lately become strongly involved as a participant in both Central Asian and Middle Eastern Affairs, with extensive economic and political relations. I wonder if you could elaborate on how Azerbaijan views itself as being simultaneously part of Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East, and the role you see for Azerbaijan bridging these three parts of the world. Thank you.
President Ilham Aliyev: So, this is partly based on our geography, the history of Azerbaijani people, and the way Azerbaijan has developed over the centuries, being at the same time part of Eastern and Western geography. Of course, geography is an important factor for every country, but it is not the only factor that dominates policy. So, we based our policy on that geography and established, I think, very strong ties with our neighbors across the Caspian and to the south of Azerbaijan, particularly with the countries in the Middle East. With respect to the long-lasting cooperation with European countries, Azerbaijan signed or adopted the declaration on strategic partnership with many of them. So, this already established platform allows us to play an important role as a geographical, political, economic, and transportation bridge between the Central Asia region and Europe. We know that there is a big interest now in Central Asia from the West – whether it's European Union or the United States or other international institutions. And, of course, planning long-term cooperation with that region, it's only enough to look at the map to understand that Azerbaijan cannot be avoided. Though, there are some in Europe, which would prefer to separate Azerbaijan not only from this process but also to build the dividing lines in the Caucasus, particularly in the Southern Caucasus. But these attempts will definitely not succeed, because not only geography, but also political, economic, cultural connections between Azerbaijan and the countries of Central Asia actually create this very unique atmosphere of partnership. So, geographically, Azerbaijan is a country of the Southern Caucasus, a Caspian country, but at the same time, we're right next to Central Asia—only the Caspian Sea separates us. From the point of view of practical cooperation, transportation, and the Middle Corridor, we have done a lot to help build bridges and to increase the volume of cargo. Because large investments in Azerbaijan’s transportation infrastructure, particularly the seaport, shipbuilding factory, railroad facilities, and other logistical infrastructure we created today are instrumental, and we see that year after year, we see a growing number of cargo going through Azerbaijan, not only from Central Asia but also from China and from Europe to China. So, I think this is an important asset, and for any international actor that would like to make relations with Central Asian countries closer, of course, again, it's enough to look at the map and at the political interaction between the leaders of Azerbaijan and Central Asian countries.
More or less, the same we can say about our strong connections with the Middle East and with the countries that are members of the Gulf Cooperation Council. Azerbaijan has established very strong relationships based on mutual respect and mutual interest. We already work actively on different investment projects. It can also be applied to the countries of the Central Asia, where we already created several joint investment funds with some Central Asian countries and with some countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council. So, creating this synergy definitely will be to the benefit of all of us. Recently, just six months ago, we signed an important agreement between Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan on a green energy cable under the Caspian Sea. So, it will bring the vast green energy resources of Central Asia – some of which are already available and some in the process – adding to the vast green energy resources of Azerbaijan to support European countries with respect to energy security. So far, it is oil and gas, but it will be electricity generated from green energy. Just several days ago, we held the regular Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council in Baku, part of the agenda was devoted to green energy. So, transportation, green energy, security, stability, and, of course, joint efforts to strengthen statehood and independence of our region are important international factors.
Hikmet Hajiyev: Our second question, Stephanie Fenkart, Austria.
Stephanie Fenkart: Thank you very much, Mr. President, for hosting us. It's a pleasure. I'm Stephanie Fenkart from Vienna, Austria, working for the International Institute for Peace. I was here last time as well, and I asked a question about reconciliation and mediation between Armenia and Azerbaijan. This time, however, I would like to ask a long-term question. I would like to know if you could elaborate a little bit on your long-term vision for the South Caucasus countries, considering the topic that we are facing a new world order. Perhaps you see that it is a long process between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and it is going to take time to come to terms and reach a peace agreement. But the obstacles can be overcome. Nevertheless, I think it is also important to have an idea, like the European state, and a vision on how to make war impossible in the future, and then, at some point, come to an institutionalized form, like the European Union. I'm not suggesting following this path. But what would be your long-term vision for the South Caucasus, from which Azerbaijanis, Armenians, and Georgians would benefit, considering also that the geography is here to stay, as you mentioned before? Thank you.
President Ilham Aliyev: Yeah, I think that we even can talk about mid-term targets, which are reachable and achievable. Unfortunately, Armenian occupation of Azerbaijan's territory did not allow the South Caucasus to develop as a more or less integrated region. We had all the chances for that, but aggression, devastation, and the suffering of the Azerbaijani people did not allow that to happen. So, the South Caucasus was not integrated, though, from an economic point of view and from the point of view of transportation routes and, of course, energy security, that could have happened. If we look at the relationship between Azerbaijan and Georgia, we will see all those segments, which I just mentioned – energy security, transportation, political dialogue, investments, economic advantages. So, Armenia actually deprived itself of that, and actually, as a result of occupation and aggression, deprived itself of becoming a transit country, important transit country for Azerbaijan's energy resources and transportation routes. And all the transit - whether it's oil, gas, or cargo - from Azerbaijan goes through Georgia. So, Armenia could have been part of that process. It's their fault that they miscalculated the future development and sacrificed their economic future, their real independence for this dream of “great Armenia”. When an agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia is signed, then, of course, there will be no obstacle to the beginning of cooperation. I believe we should not lose time because, once again, with respect to the peace agreement, the ball is in Armenia’s court. On many occasions, I have already made it public what we expect from Armenia regarding our territorial integrity and their constitution. So it is known as soon as it is done and the peace agreement is signed, so there'll be no obstacle for the South Caucasus to try to be an integrated region. I think it can be a win-win situation for three countries of the South Caucasus. And being realistic, of course, we cannot imagine that we will become friends with Armenia immediately. It is not realistic, and even talking about any kind of economic integration is premature. But we are ready to start taking small steps toward confidence-building measures. And there have been certain initiatives recently generated by our Georgian friends, and we responded positively. So, we'll be waiting for the position of the Armenian side. And if that happens, small steps can begin—such as exchanges of visits between journalists and intellectuals, or perhaps joint sessions on transboundary rivers, as this is a serious concern for Azerbaijan. Armenia is polluting the Araz River, and, by the way, the Kura River also needs to be more properly addressed along its route to Azerbaijan. So, all that can have a practical impact. With these small steps, we can try to reduce mistrust. To build trust it will take years, but at least to reduce it, so we are ready for that.
Hikmet Hajiyev: Brenda Shaffer, United States and Israel.
Brenda Shaffer: Good morning, President Aliyev.
President Ilham Aliyev: Good morning.
Brenda Shaffer: We're in 2025, almost five years since the 44-day war. It's a time to especially remember the martyrs who died, particularly the young people who defended their country, and the injured, who every day are still part of the struggle. But it's also an opportunity to ask the Commander-in-Chief and the President who oversaw the preparation of Azerbaijan and its military for this war: What are your conclusions after five years? We could say that since World War II, very few wars have had a true conclusion. They just sort of kick the can down the road to a continuing conflict. The Armenia-Azerbaijan war is the only one, including thanks to the September 2023 anti-terrorism operation, that has a final conclusion. So, what are your lessons? Five years after the war, as Commander-in-Chief, urban warfare, low numbers of civilian casualties, and damage to civilian infrastructure. What are the lessons for modern wars, which unfortunately are still taking place as we sit here?
President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you. Of course, there are different segments for answering this question. First, defense capability. Since the Second Karabakh War, Azerbaijan continued its reforms in armed forces due to the fact that still the separatists existed on our territory, and we had to be ready for any kind of provocation. There have been certain military confrontations since the 2020 war until 2023, when we completely restored our sovereignty. Our conduct of military operations during the Second Karabakh War clearly demonstrated the very high-level of capability of Azerbaijan's Armed Forces, discipline and also political will of the Azerbaijani government.
We did not take revenge, though, one can imagine what feelings we all lived with through the years of occupation, especially when we returned to Karabakh and have seen the barbarism and vandalism. So, I said many times that we will take revenge on the battlefield. We will not do anything beyond normal human behavior and beyond the rules of war, which we are committed to. And that was a case. We conducted the war with respect to all international rules and our own understanding about values.
And this was appreciated by all the experts, which thoroughly examined every day of the 44-day war. So, after the war ended, of course, the situation could not be considered as totally stable. Until September 2023, it was not. We had casualties, and unfortunately, Armenia and those foreign forces, which were behind them, gave them very bad advices. Actually, on November 10, 2020, Armenia signed the capitulation act, and we all know from history what happens when one country capitulates. But it didn't happen. So, Armenia tried to continue to behave as if there had been no 30 years of occupation, suffering of Azerbaijani people, no 44-day war, and they just got very bad advices from their so-called friends. And by the way, this process continues. Though, many times we warned them that they should not rely on those whom they consider their friends, whether it's old or new, because here on the ground, they will face us. We have enough political will to defend our interests, our political interests on international arena, and we cannot be a subject of any kind of international pressure, which will divert us from our policy. So, from a military point of view—whether it’s the Second Karabakh War, the anti-terror operation of September 2023, or the steps we are taking afterward to strengthen our military capacity—all of this is absolutely understandable, especially taking into account that there is a large process of militarization of Armenia. Deadly weapons, which have been supplied by new Armenian friends actually will not truly lead to peace and stability. It will only lead to potential tensions in the future.
We know that there are quite a strong revanchist groups in Armenia. I would divide them in two: active revanchists, those who are responsible for 30 years occupation, and passive revanchists - today's government - which tries to demonstrate a so-called constructive approach, but in fact, lives with the same feelings of revanche and revenge. So, this is the reason why they are buying deadly weapons. Some of them they acquire free of charge. This is the reason why they are planning new military operations against Azerbaijan. And this is the reason why they do not want just to accept our legitimate proposal to dissolve the OSCE Minsk Group because as we all know that the Minsk Group was created to tackle the issues of Karabakh conflict. If Armenian government considers it is done, which they declare, and if they recognize Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan, there is no reason why Minsk Group should not be dissolved legally. De facto, it is not functional, but refusal to sign a joint application with Azerbaijan to OSCE to dissolve Minsk Group formally is a sign that they just are waiting for the time. They're waiting maybe for some changes, for some advantages in international situation. They counted very much on the Democratic administration to continue after the elections. So for them, the victory of President Trump was a big disappointment and frustration. We all know that. But nevertheless, political establishment of Armenia is not divided on the issue of Azerbaijan. It is consolidated. It's just a matter of vocabulary, matter of behavior and matter of tactics. So, we must be ready for that from military and political point of view. Until a peace agreement is signed and Armenia puts down completely all territorial claims to Azerbaijan, which still exists in the Constitution, and demonstrates sincere behavior to normalize relations with Azerbaijan there will always be a threat of new military standoff. And the last point is that, since 2020, almost five years have passed, yet we are still facing absolutely groundless speculations and accusations that Azerbaijan is planning a new aggression against Armenia. So, almost five years have passed, but this black propaganda is still mainly generated by the government of France and those who follow their policy in the European Union and also by State Department under Blinken. This black propaganda continues, and on many occasions, just behind closed doors, I was saying, “Look, if we wanted to continue the war in November 2020, we would have continued that. We stopped our military operation on the outskirts of Khankendi. We didn't want the war to continue because we didn't want people to die. We wanted to do it peacefully. If we wanted to continue, we were just on the border with Armenia, everywhere in Zangilan in Kalbajar, in other directions, Armenians army were totally demoralized.” There have been 12,000 deserters, as Armenian government itself confirms that. So, no one could have prevented us from doing what we are now accused of. So, we didn't have these intentions, and we do not have them. But at the same time, we must remain alert. We should not forget 30 years of occupation. We should not forget the dreams of “great Armenia,” which still circulate, not only in diaspora, in France and United States, but also in Armenian government and in all political spectrum. You will hardly find any Armenian politician who does not dream about taking Karabakh back. This is the reality. We know this reality from various sources of information, and we have to live with it. These are probably the lessons we’ve learned from the war and the post-war situation, and how the post-war situation will continue to develop mainly depends on Armenia. We did what was absolutely legitimate. We restored our territorial integrity, sovereignty, and put an end to separatism and took control of our borders. And for us, this issue is done. It doesn't mean that we will just ignore potential threats and potential danger. We must always be ready to push back. For that reason, we continue to spend substantial funds on military buildup. This is not because we plan a so-called aggression. This is because we, as victims of aggression, want to be able to defend ourselves and to punish Armenia if, once again, they decide to do something harmful to us.
Hikmet Hajiyev: Daria Isachenko from Germany.
Daria Isachenko: Dear Mr. President, thank you very much for this opportunity. I'm based at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, and my question is about Türkiye and Israel. Azerbaijan has good and close relations with both countries. Given the current tensions between the two, what impact does this have on Azerbaijan? And is Azerbaijan involved in any activities to ease the tensions between Türkiye and Israel? Thank you.
President Ilham Aliyev: Yes, you're right. Both countries are close friends of Azerbaijan. With Türkiye, we are allies. We signed the Shusha Declaration in 2021, and formally became allies, though our alliance relationship de facto existed long time before this formal procedure.
Israel is a friendly country to Azerbaijan, and for many years, mutual friendship have been demonstrated in difficult times for both of us. Therefore, of course, these tensions between the two countries are very disturbing for us, and a matter of concern. As it is already known, though we never made it public ourselves, but already it circulates quite broadly. The first successful reconciliation between Türkiye and Israel was to a certain degree facilitated by Azerbaijan. Because what now happens between the two countries is not the first crisis. It is the second in the foreseeable past. So, during the first crisis, we played an active role in order to try to bring countries closer, and it was not only Azerbaijan. I would say that Azerbaijan was number one in this process. Again, it was behind the scenes. We never made it public. We never tried to praise ourselves for that. We just wanted to help our ally and brother Türkiye and our friend Israel to rebuild their relationship. As you probably know, there were also visible signs of this normalization, like a visit of President of Israel, Mr. Herzog, to Türkiye, and meeting with President Erdogan, and also the meeting between President Erdogan and Prime Minister Netanyahu in New York. It was two years ago. Now we are facing the so-called déjà vu. We know the algorithm of our actions, and I can assure you that we are sparing no efforts in order to be helpful. At this stage, it would probably not be right to say anything more than that because, again, it is a relationship between two countries, and it is up to them to decide to what degree they want to make public any kind of process between us, if ever. Again, during the first round of normalization, we were absolutely silent. We worked behind the scenes. So, you can imagine that we are doing the same now, and we hope that the process will lead to normalization. It is always bad when your friends have bad relations. It is bad for them. It is bad for us and bad for the world. Because I think despite legitimate concerns and despite quite a high level of mistrust, still, there can be found the grounds for normalization, and the areas of mutual interest. The process to my mind should not stop. Azerbaijan is doing everything in its power to facilitate the process.
Hikmet Hajiyev: Ramis Yunus, the United States.
Ramis Yunus: Dear Mr. President, it’s a great honor for me to be here today, and I'm very happy to meet you again. Thank you very much for this opportunity and for the invitation. It’s already a great opportunity for me, and it’s a tradition. I came to my homeland, especially to the Karabakh Region of Azerbaijan, for very important international events with your participation. Last time, it was in Shusha, and now we're in Khankendi, in Baku. At the same time, I appreciate the opportunity to ask you questions regarding serious geopolitical issues in the world and around our region. Dear Mr. President, last time before the U.S. elections, in response to my previous questions, you shared your excellent experience of communicating with both Democrats and Republicans. As I remember, you said it was always easier for you to work with the Republican administration. Dear Mr. President, I have a question for you: were your expectations after the change of power in the White House justified, or is it still too early to talk about that? And what do you see as the main risks for Azerbaijan and our region today? Once again, thank you very much, dear Mr. President.
President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you. From my personal experience, which I have shared on a couple of occasions, of course, working with the Republican administration was much more comfortable than with the Democratic administration. I started my presidential duties in 2003 during the time of President George Bush, and relations between two countries were very good. We, both of us, highly appreciated mutual support and considered and publicly announced the strategic importance of our bilateral relations. Azerbaijan was among the first non-NATO countries, which joined operations in Afghanistan and in Iraq, and that was based on the request from the US administration. Otherwise, we wouldn't have been there. We provided not only physical support through large number of our military servicemen, but also provided important transportation link to Afghanistan, whether it's air connection or our land facilities and through Caspian Sea. It was highly appreciated by the U.S. governments during the administration of President Bush. The situation changed a little bit, but not dramatically, after President Bush ended his duties. However, during the Biden-Blinken administration, relations between the United States and Azerbaijan can be characterized as being in crisis. And the reason for that was not us. We have always wanted to have good relations with the United States, which is a strongest country in the world, but it was because of anti-Azerbaijani policy of the State Department run by Mr. Blinken and many anti-Azerbaijani people in the administration of President Biden. So, I can name various facts, which created frustration in Azerbaijan. I think only one is enough: how sanctions were re-imposed on Azerbaijan. When Azerbaijan was needed to the United States, the so-called section 907 to the Freedom Support Act, which was discriminatory to Azerbaijan, was waived, and every president of the United States was issuing a waiver every year. But as soon as the Biden-Blinken administration ran away from Afghanistan – and all of us saw how they did it – they re-imposed this amendment against us again. So being so unthankful is very harmful for the administration itself, because who will trust them after that? And our level of trust to Biden-Blinken team was close to zero. Our relations were in deep crisis.
The United States, under the Biden-Blinken team, took unilateral side with Armenia. That was the first time officially that the U.S. did so since the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict started. Yes, we all knew what kind of support Armenia had in all Democratic administrations, but nevertheless, never in the history of American mediation process, they took unilateral side with Armenia. It's enough to remember April 5th last year, a very strange meeting in Brussels with the participation of Mr. Blinken, Madame Ursula von der Leyen, Mr. Borrell and Mr. Pashinyan – an unprecedented meeting, which this team of American and European politicians had never had with any country in the world, not only in the post-Soviet area. We had enough credible information that part of the agreed protocol was devoted to military buildup. We raised this issue in advance in order to prevent it. Then it was removed from the text of the document. But de facto, it existed, and based on that, the so-called European Peace Facility allocated the first tranche to Armenia to buy weapons. Another important milestone in the deterioration of the US-Azerbaijan relations under Mr. Blinken was the declaration on strategic partnership, signed five days before President Trump came to office. On 14th January of this year in Washington, Secretary Blinken and the Armenian Foreign Minister signed declaration on strategic partnership in a rush, in a hurry, just like thieves. You know, in just five days, the new team has come. President Trump, he will determine the policy.
What is the reason for that? That was another anti-Azerbaijani move by Mr. Blinken. I regret it very much because I trusted him a lot in the beginning of our communications, but, well, unfortunately, I was wrong. So, the attempts to build dividing lines in the Caucasus, to isolate Azerbaijan, to discriminate against us, and to spread rumors about Azerbaijan. As soon as the Biden-Blinken team left office, all these insinuations against Azerbaijan immediately stopped. Their media, which was very aggressive toward us—those that President Trump calls "fake news," like The Washington Post, The New York Times, Politico, etc.— immediately stopped publishing all the ugly articles about Azerbaijan. We knew that the source of these articles was the State Department. The same was with the USAID. By the way, our general prosecutor is investigating the illegal activity of USAID. I was already informed about preliminary investigation, and it demonstrates the scope of anti-Azerbaijani activity and attempts to undermine our government, clear attempts to intervene and interfere in our internal affairs. As soon as the portfolio is ready, we will submit it to President Trump's administration, so they can take serious measures about this corrupt USAID and its corrupt leaders. So this is a history, and well, I can talk about that history, maybe for several hours, but most important is now, yes, whether we already got what we expected? I would say yes, because, first, the anti-Azerbaijani trend in the US policy stopped, and this is already a positive side. Second, there have been already high-level contacts between members of Trump's administration and the Azerbaijani team on different levels, with a very productive and mutually acceptable agenda. And third, taking into account the agenda of Trump's administration, we can foresee that this period in our relations will be a very good opportunity to strengthen our partnership, and also we have experience in working with Trump's administration during his first term, which was also very positive. We didn't have any crisis in our relations. Yes, our relations were not as active as we would have wanted to be, but that was the first term. Now, when President Trump and his team have seen European Union's hypocrisy against him, how European leaders were behind the plot against him supporting Madame Harris, so he felt it on his own skin. His second term, definitely, that's my assessment, will be much more active and much more concentrated on Americans’ national interests than the first one. In American national interests, I can say with full authority that strong relations with Azerbaijan are very important for this region. Azerbaijan is a leading country in the South Caucasus. As part of the Global South, with a strong position in the Non-Aligned Movement—where we've successfully chaired for four years—and with our strong connections to the region of Central Asia, as we have already discussed, along with our capabilities, economic potential, energy resources, and an army that has demonstrated its strength on the battlefield, not in parades, as well as our political connections, Azerbaijan can be a very important partner for the United States. We want that to happen. We see that it is happening at the same time, we understand that now President Trump and his team are preoccupied with much more urgent and important issues of global agenda. We are waiting for the time, when we will engage or maybe re-engage in a very strong predictable, long-term strategic relationship with the new administration.
Hikmet Hajiyev: Thembisa Fakude, South Africa.
Thembisa Fakude: Thank you. Good morning, Mr. President, thanks very much for having us. This is my second time in Azerbaijan. We met you last time in Shusha during the Global Media Summit. Thanks again for being invited. Azerbaijan is, at least from where we see it in Africa, observing the geopolitical strength and involvement of Azerbaijan with the leadership at the Non-Aligned Movement. You are also involved this year in your leadership with COP29, so all of us are observing with interest. But importantly, Azerbaijan is also investing in social and educational projects in Africa, and many Africans, of course, are happy for that. We've got more students studying in Azerbaijan, who are coming from Africa, and you are also transferring skills in terms of training and professionalizing some of the public services. And that's appreciated largely. But Africans are also looking at the additional involvement of Azerbaijan, particularly in the southern part of Africa, where I come from. Now, the question is, and this is the answer I have to take back home: Do you have any plans of expanding your social, educational, and other academic involvement, in particular in Southern Africa? If that's the case, what are those plans? Thank you.
President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you very much. First of all, I would like to say that South Africa is one of the few countries on the African continent, where we have already embassy for many years. We don't have many embassies in Africa. But the number of embassies are growing. I think the South Africa was one of the first. So, this demonstrates our huge interest to work with your country on different tracks. Yes, we've been always very supportive to our friends in Africa. When they needed our support during the times of COVID, we provided financial and humanitarian support to more than 80 countries, and majority of those countries were countries in the African continent. Through different means, we support educational and medical programs. We provide scholarship for students from Africa. We do it through our state funds, NGOs, Azerbaijan International Development Agency, which provides international assistance and is part of our foreign ministry. So, all of this is happening, and yes, we would like to see more active interaction. I think this year's visits from African leaders to Azerbaijan demonstrate this huge mutual interest.
With respect to the Non-Aligned Movement, we've been very helpful to all the member states for four years. We have left a good legacy in the Non-Aligned Movement. At a certain stage, this movement started to deteriorate a little bit, so we brought a new dynamism. We initiated the creation of the Parliamentary Platform, which was successfully established, and the Youth Platform. These are two important legacies of Azerbaijan. We also worked actively on the institutional development of the Non-Aligned Movement and its potential transformation into an organization. Our chairmanship was unanimously supported, when we've been elected for three years, but then the member states decided to extend our chairmanship for one more year, which is an unprecedented case in the history of the movement. By unanimous decision, Azerbaijan’s chairmanship was extended. This demonstrates that despite the fact that there are certain bilateral or multilateral misunderstandings between the member states, it's understandable - 120 countries - with respect to Azerbaijan, all of them were united in appreciation of our role. During COP, we publicly announced that our main target will be to support the least developed countries, to support the countries facing existential threat. And we did it. And with respect to the results of COP, although I know that some so-called experts, whose goal was to discredit Azerbaijan's presidency, were saying that financing was not achieved, we increased the financing from 100 billion US dollars—the level that had been achieved in all previous 28 COPs—to 300 billion. So, isn’t that an achievement? Of course, it is. We tripled the financing. We launched a special program for Small Island Developing States and Azerbaijan allocated 10 million US dollars in direct support to Small Island Developing States with respect to their existential threats, because climate change for everyone is a problem, but for them, it's just their life. It's their future. During COP, another important achievement was an agreement on making carbon market functional. This issue was not agreed for at least 10 years. It was agreed in Azerbaijan, due to our chairmanship, due to trust in us. And, of course, we played an important role in building bridges between the Global South and the Global North. That was one of the key assignments we set for ourselves. The way we tackled COVID, the way we hosted COP, and by the way, until the end of the year, we will be president as well as bilateral contacts with African countries, demonstrate clearly our agenda. We see a very positive reaction to our efforts in many African countries. Our foreign policy with respect to building stronger ties with African countries is already fixed and approved by me. Actually, I initiated it. At this stage, we must be much more active.
Also coming back to what we already discussed with respect to occupation and relations with Armenia, during all those years of occupation, our main foreign policy priority was restoration of territorial integrity. All our efforts had the ultimate goal of restoring sovereignty and territorial integrity. That's why many other important issues of our potential foreign policy agenda were overshadowed, and it is understandable, because that was the national idea of Azerbaijani people and Azerbaijani state.
Now that this issue has been resolved, we have much more time and many opportunities to build stronger relations with countries we consider friendly—those that have never done anything harmful to Azerbaijan, unlike some other countries from different continents, and those that appreciate friendship. We are ready to work on the issues you mentioned, as well as on other issues. We already are in the phase of providing low interest loans to some countries in Africa to tackle important issues. We already are elaborating our investment portfolio for some countries in Africa with which we have close relations. It will not be only humanitarian; it will be also business and investments, and of course, political ties.
Hikmet Hajiyev: Antun Dujmovic, Croatia.
Antun Dujmovic: Thank you, Mr. President. It's my honor to be here. I'm from Croatia.
We had a successful visit by the Minister of Economy, Mr. Jabbarov, to Croatia. We are a friendly country supporting Azerbaijan because we had the occupation of our territory, and we strongly support you now, after the successful operation done to not allow impunity to be enforced, and to prosecute every war criminal that was involved in places like Ganja. So my question is regarding my region. Now, Albania is looking to invest billions into gasification because they have TAP, but the country is not gasified. Croatia is actually now using European money to extend its gas pipeline system. Do you think this is an opportunity, actually, once again, to tell Brussels that it's time to involve these gasification projects in the investment plan for the Balkans and to have Azerbaijan as a partner country, not just as a platform for fossil fuels and gas, but also to open up doors for green energy and cooperation between the region, and especially Croatia, in many terms, including projects for the reconstruction of Azerbaijan, artificial intelligence, etc.? Thank you, Mr. President.
President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you. As I already mentioned recently, five days ago, we had the 11th Advisory Council of the Southern Gas Corridor and the 3rd Advisory Council on Green Energy, which was held in Baku, and that was our initiative, which we initiated many years ago and it is under the auspices of Azerbaijan and the European Commission. In my introductory remarks there, apart from giving information about what we've done during last year on the European gas market, I raised two important issues, which must be addressed by European financial institutions and European Commission if they want to continue to receive large volumes of gas and to increase the gas supply from Azerbaijan. The first is financial institutions’ policy. In all our energy projects, whether it's oil and gas, upstream, downstream, there was a kind of agreed ratio between corporate financing and borrowed money. It was usually 70% borrowed money, 30% corporate money. Now, the European Union wants more gas from Azerbaijan, and for that reason, the President of the European Commission, Madam Ursula von der Leyen, visited Azerbaijan in July 2022, when the European Union was very concerned about the gas supplies, and we signed the Declaration on Strategic Partnership in the field of energy. Since then, based on the request from the European Commission, we have increased the gas supply to Europe almost at the level of 60%, from 8 BCM in 2021 to almost 13 BCM in 2024. Many more European countries, including Croatia, became the recipients of the Azerbaijani gas. Now, we have more gas for export from existing fields, where we'll have new phase of development. From the fields, which are producing gas on the initial stage, and we will have several billion cubic meters of gas just because we will install green energy power plants that will save us the gas, which today we use to produce electricity. So all that roughly increases our potential gas supply by a minimum of 10 BCM.
I don’t want to be more precise. But when I say minimum, I always try to be very conservative in my assessment. So it means that it's a very small minimum. The transportation infrastructure—the Southern Gas Corridor—is fully packed. There's no room left. It must be expanded. Again, how? With borrowed money and with corporate money. But here we come to the point that the European Investment Bank, EIB, stopped completely financing fossil fuel projects. It is a strategy, and we all know that the European Investment Bank is well-integrated with the European Commission. The EBRD, though officially, did not close fossil fuel chapter, but keeps it at a very marginal share. In my communication with the President of EBRD this January in Davos, I raised this issue. I raised this issue during the visit of President of Germany just several days ago, because Germany, as a leading country in Europe, has a lot of instruments in order to influence the policy. I raised this issue, as I said publicly during my comments on the Advisory Council on the 4th of April, and I raised this issue with the European Energy Commissioner during our meeting. So this is number one. This embargo on fossil fuel financing must be lifted. Well, they need just to look at what President Trump is doing on fossil fuel and not to be late.
Second, an important factor is long-term contracts. When the European Union says that in 2050, they will be carbon neutral, and then they ask me to invest money and to produce more gas. Where that gas will go? If you do not get it from us, then why should I invest or why should I look at your market as my main market? Yes, the European Union market is premium in terms of legislation, rules, procedures, and interconnectivity, and with respect to price. But we can look for other markets, the demand for Azerbaijani gas in our neighborhood, we should not only look to the West, we can look to the East, to the South. This is important for the future development of Azerbaijan's gas industry, and for energy security of Europe.
We know the problems of the European energy security. Despite the fact that now they think they are on the safe side, we know the demands of the industry. We know the demands even in green energy, despite large investments in green energy, still the European Union will be in shortage of electricity, and for that purpose, we are now working on the green energy cable under the Black Sea from Azerbaijan to Romania. Four gigawatt by the way, and it's only the beginning. So, the European Commission should take off its glasses, look at the world from a realistic point of view, and appreciate countries like Azerbaijan, rather than trying to divide the Caucasus into their favorites and those they don't like. They should behave as good partners. We are ready for that.
With respect to Croatia, we started supplying gas to Croatia last year. Now, our gas supply covers 12 countries, ten of which are European, and eight are EU members. You also mentioned Albania's gasification. Just I would like to inform you that Albania's gasification project in the city of Korça will be invested by Azerbaijan. It's already agreed. The Albanian government selected that city, and I think this year we will start investments in gasification. We have experience in that. We invested largely in gasification of Georgia, where now I think a level of gasification is something like 80% probably. It was 30, when we started with our money. We are now discussing the gasification project in Bulgaria. Yeah, Bulgaria has gasification but limited. Today, if I’m not mistaken, about 50% of their gas consumption comes from Azerbaijan, and we are ready to do the same in other countries. By the way, with Croatia, our discussions are not limited to gasification or gas supply, but also cover other energy-related issues. Thank you for this question, it allowed me once again to bring this important issue to the attention of our partners in Europe.
Hikmet Hajiyev: Omar Ashur, Qatar, United Kingdom.
Omar Ashur: Thank you very much, Mr. President. It's a pleasure and an honor to be here. Thank you for hosting us. Congratulations again on both the liberation of the territories and on the reconstruction that we saw yesterday. I'm Omar Ashur from the Doha Institute in Qatar, and also from the University of Exeter in the UK. My question is about Ukraine. What is the Azerbaijani position vis-à-vis the Russian war in Ukraine? Now, the war situation has been going on for almost 12 years, and it is affecting both the global and regional environment, including the Caucasus, Europe, the Middle East, and even the Indo-Pacific area. As the president of a country that has major military and diplomatic achievements, how do you envision the end of this war? Thank you.
President Ilham Aliyev: First, regarding our position on the war between Russia and Ukraine, we always supported, support and will continue to support Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty. As a country that has suffered from occupation and the deterioration of our territorial integrity, we fully understand this situation. Anyone you ask will say, "We want the war to stop immediately." Yes, we also want that. However, the key question is how, and whether this ceasefire—or potential temporary ceasefire—will be sustainable. As a country, which had two active wars, and period in between, I can tell you that ceasefire never stops war. Never, and it didn't stop in our case. It's just a temporary relief for countries to regroup, to mobilize, and to start again. Second, what ceasefire means? It's also important, because these terms are very important for those who want to help war to stop, to clearly understand what we're talking about. Everybody will say, I want war to stop. Yes, Let's applaud. So what? What does it mean to stop? Does it mean that there'll be no artillery, there'll be no air bombs, there'll be no sniper war, there'll be no sabotage group? What does it will mean? Line of contact between Russia and Ukrainian troops is much longer than ours. Yes, it is different today. In our case, the line of contact was very advantageous for Armenia because they had natural landscape, which protected them and actually helped to keep occupation. In addition, during the ceasefire period of 26 years, they built five, sometimes six, even more engineering lines - trenches, barbed wire, minefields. So, we have casualties from mines every week, including almost 400 people with more than 70 of them killed and others becoming severely wounded. So, when people talk about ceasefire in Ukraine or peace in Ukraine, do they understand how difficult it will be to control the troops? What is the level of discipline in Ukrainian Army and Russian Army? I don't know. Maybe I know, but I don't want to comment. The level of discipline in the Azerbaijani Army is well known. We stopped on the outskirts of Khankendi by a single order of the Commander-in-Chief. So, will that line of contact be safe and secure? Will those who want to mediate demand international peacekeepers along that line of contact? They demanded it from us throughout the years of occupation, one of the consolidated messages of the United States, Russia, and France was to bring so-called peacekeepers to the contact line. So what did it mean? It meant that they wanted us to agree to the occupation. If peacekeeper comes to the contact line, which is occupied, it means that you should say goodbye to your territory. No country, at least in my understanding, will agree to compromise on territorial integrity, and to expect Ukraine to agree that they will sacrifice their internationally recognized territory in exchange for peace is not fair and not realistic. I think it is not fair and it's not realistic, because one thing is to say good things — let's stop the war — and the second thing is to go a little bit deeper, and maybe ask those who have experienced war recently what kind of arrangements are needed to create sustainable peace. Since May 1994, when we had a ceasefire with Armenia, the war never stopped. There have been different clashes. There was April 2016, when we demonstrated to the Armenians that they should leave the territories. We did not want to enter into a large-scale military operation — that's why it lasted only three days. But we demonstrated to them that we can liberate territories, and we did liberate territories — small, but they did not learn the lesson. And then there were several more. The sniper war never stopped throughout those 26 years, and even now, you can see that a lot of shootings on our border are coming from Armenia, and if our forces shoot, they shoot only in response. Discipline in the Armenian army is very low. They recruited people who never served, or maybe served 30 years ago in the army — civilians, so-called paramilitary groups, veteran groups, and people who do not serve in the regular army, due to a lack of human resources in Armenia. All these questions, of course, are a big topic, so we can talk for hours about that, but without addressing this core issue, it will not work. I, personally — being a realist — do not see, in the foreseeable future, any prospect for peace between Ukraine and Russia. Russia has declared occupied territories as part of Russia. How can they step back from that? Ukraine considers, as the whole world does, these occupied territories as part of Ukraine, and Azerbaijan considers them as part of Ukraine. How can they sacrifice and say, "No, it's not part of Ukraine"? Well, if it happens, then it means that I do not understand something in international politics. And unfortunately, unfortunately, wars end when there is a final capitulation act. As our friend mentioned from Croatia, they liberated their territory, came to their border, and stopped. And we did the same. We came to our border and stopped. That's how wars end — this is the real world.
Hikmet Hajiyev: Ambassador Hulusi Kiliç, Türkiye.
Hulusi Kiliç: Thank you very much, Mr. Hajiyev. Your Excellency, Mr. President, it is a great honor to be at this conference under your distinguished presence. I am grateful to His Excellency Ambassador Pashayev, along with his esteemed team, for inviting me to this very significant conference. ADA University is a unique institution in the region that organized an important international conference on the current topic. Mr. President, I am proud to say that with the historical victory in the war and the 23-hour anti-terror operation, you have written history for two generations. They will always remember you and your legacy. You have restored not only the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan but also international justice. Before asking my questions, I would like to draw the kind attention of the distinguished participants to your two most recent major historical successes. First, your remarkable achievement as Chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement for four years. You truly revitalized this movement during your chairmanship, the first two years of which coincided with the global pandemic. We will never forget Azerbaijan's vaccination donation to many African countries and the emphasis you placed on women and youth during your tenure, as you said. Second, your success in hosting COP29. In just eight months of preparations, you issued a miracle – the organization of COP29 was outstanding. Despite boycott calls from some European leaders, such as President Macron, nearly 80,000 guests and 70 heads of state and government attended. I was very proud to witness this simple success. I would like to extend my warmest congratulations. Your Excellency, we know very well that you attach great importance to the Organization of Turkic States, and this year Azerbaijan will host the upcoming summit. Next month, the informal summit will be held in Budapest. Your Excellency, could you tell us about your assessment of the Organization of Turkic States? Thank you very much.
President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you, Mr. Ambassador, for your kind words about our country. You're a great friend of Azerbaijan. During your activity here as ambassador, and after, you always demonstrate a brotherly approach to our country, our people. I follow your activity, and very glad that you are with us. Azerbaijan is a country, which always played a very active role in cooperation between countries of the Turkic world. We initiated the first informal summit last summer in Shusha because I told my colleagues that it is not enough to meet once a year. Let's have two sessions a year. So this initiative was supported, and tradition already exists. So probably next month, the dates are not yet fixed, but most probably next month, we will have a second informal summit and then formal summit in Azerbaijan. Relations between the countries of the Turkic world are extremely important for us. For us, they are one of the main priorities in our foreign policy. We are united by history, ethnic roots, language similarities, by culture and traditions, and we want to see the organization more consolidated and more result--oriented. For that purpose, Azerbaijan is doing its utmost. In terms of interaction, between the member states, I think we have a very good atmosphere.
I follow closely the bilateral track between the member states and see that we don't have any points of disagreement on bilateral and multilateral tracks. But at the same time, I think that the efforts all of us are demonstrating are not enough in today's rapidly changing world. As the topic of your forum suggests, we should not be too late and should not miss this opportunity to convert our organization into an important global actor. There is a great potential for that. A huge geography, human resources, natural resources, transportation routes, and this organization is based on ethnic roots.
We know many organizations don't want to compare with any, but the uniqueness of the Organization of Turkic States is that it is based on ethnicity, on common roots, on tradition, on common values, and we share these values. Again, it's difficult not to compare. But excuse me, I will. If you look at the European Union, we have countries that pursue absolutely different values. The countries, whose peoples are absolutely different from one another. If we take South and North, if we take political developments in some countries, they are absolutely different from others. We see a lot of disagreements now in the European Union with respect to values, culture, traditions, migrants, tariffs, etc. Do we have something like that in the Turkic organization? No, we don't, so this makes us unique. So what is not enough? It's our consolidated international activity. This is not enough, and we want to be more vocal, to be more active, and to have our say in global affairs. Taking into account geography, population, if we add here the military capability - it's well known that the Turkish Army is the strongest in Europe. Azerbaijan's military capability has also been demonstrated. So if we add that, we can really become a center of international activity on a global scale, especially, when we see some organizations, internal disputes, mistrust and lack of mutual trust. I mentioned the European Union. I can also mention NATO. We all know what some members countries of NATO now think about Article Five. Well, whether it will be taken into account or not, there is a certain mistrust in NATO, which is considered to be one of the strongest international organizations on a global scale. We need to be more active. We need to, maybe it’s the wrong word, to fill the gap, but we need to become the center of decision-making process in a huge area of Eurasia, at least.
Hikmet Hajiyev: Victor Kipiani, Georgia.
Victor Kipiani: President Ilham Aliyev, thank you for your time. Thank you for always being very candid and open-minded in addressing our questions, which I personally very much acknowledge and respect. There may be some overlap between different questions, which is quite understandable. We touched on the South Caucasus region, which is our geopolitical and geo-economic habitat. Still, if we could refocus on that region, since the concept of the region is gaining traction and new momentum in this time of volatility in terms of redesigning global supply chains, etc., how could the region portray its geopolitical and geo-economic identity and make itself more competitive? Could you expand a little bit more on that? And also, as someone who represents Georgia, addressing the question in the context of our bilateral ties – something which we very much enjoy as the legacy of two famous leaders laid down in the beginning of the 1990s. Therefore, quite naturally, my question to you as the visionary leader of the region is: how do you see the prospects of those bilateral relations? I am pretty much sure that we have the gates to each other’s future successes. Thank you so much.
President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you. Definitely relations with Georgia are of strategic importance for us. And due to the historical connections between our peoples, our mutual past of being non-free and non-independent, and also the period of independence, where, from the very beginning, Georgia and Azerbaijan demonstrated a very high level of mutual understanding, partnership, friendship, and actually managed to transform the region of the South Caucasus into a strategically important one. It was done by us — only by Georgia and Azerbaijan. Situated between two seas, the Caspian and Black Sea, we are the gateway for each other to connect with different regions and continents. So, the prospects, I'm sure, will be as bright as our present.
Just among the last developments, which indicate the close partnership and friendship between the two countries, I would say the visit of the Prime Minister of Georgia, the first after the elections, usually has a very symbolic sense. So, the first visit was to Azerbaijan. And also, we expect soon the first post-election visit of the President of Georgia, also to Azerbaijan. These two facts are a clear indicator of our relationship, our commitment to each other and our friendship. Of course, we can talk a lot about the projects, which unite us. They are well-known. Therefore, I don't want to take much of your time, but these are important, not only for us, for our peoples and countries, but also for a large geography, especially now, when we're adding to that the green agenda, which we just discussed briefly. It's a green corridor for Azerbaijan and Georgia, a transportation corridor, the Middle Corridor. It cannot be avoided.
Frankly speaking, I was surprised when I was informed about the comments of the President of the European Commission, Madame Ursula Von Der Leyen, which she made in Uzbekistan, at the Summit of Central Asian leaders with the leadership of the European Commission, when she was talking about opening the borders between Azerbaijan and Armenia, and Armenia and Türkiye, in order to facilitate the Middle Corridor, as they call it in Europe, the Global Gateway. That was very strange, because this corridor exists, and Armenia plays no role in that. We can understand the feelings of European bureaucrats towards Armenia, but you cannot ignore the map. And we, in Georgia and in Azerbaijan, have provided all those facilities, which today help Europeans communicate with Central Asia — Georgian seaports, the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railroad, the Azerbaijani seaport in Alat, Caspian shipping, which is instrumental in transportation. All that is ignored — how much money was invested? All that is ignored; they only want to open the border between Türkiye and Armenia, open the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan. What does Europe have to do with that? It's none of their business. Relations between Türkiye and Armenia, and Azerbaijan and Armenia — the longer the distance between the European Union and these issues, the better for everyone.
But there was not a single word about Georgia. As if Georgia did not exist. This is unfair, and the attitude towards Georgia's internal process in the European Commission is absolutely unacceptable. This is the behavior of colonialists. They try to look at the will of the Georgian people through the principles of a colonial past. This is absolutely unacceptable, and the people of Georgia know that we are with them, and the government of Georgia knows. The internal issues of Georgia must be resolved by the Georgian people, not by bureaucrats from Brussels. So, with respect to all that, we need to strengthen our partnership between Georgia and Azerbaijan.
As we already discussed during the previous questions, we need to look at opportunities in the South Caucasus, to establish ties without any facilitator. We are fed up with these facilitators. We had those facilitators for 28 years — the notorious OSCE Minsk Group, whose only goal was to seal the occupation and transfer Karabakh to Armenia. And now, when we hear about someone who wants to facilitate, we are a little bit concerned. So, let us do it ourselves. We live here in the region. We, as Azerbaijan, want to have good neighborly relations with European institutions, primarily the European Commission, but not at the expense of our interests, not at the expense of their continuous attempts to interfere in our internal affairs, finance different segments of our society, brainwash our young generation, and poison the brains of some people in our region. So, this is how we want to see the South Caucasus; the leading countries of the South Caucasus, Azerbaijan and Georgia, of course, should take the main burden for cooperation. But of course, Armenia, when and if agrees to amend its constitution with respect to territorial claims against Azerbaijan can join the process, and we can think about future long-term predictable situation in our region.
Hikmet Hajiyev: Rick Fawn, the United Kingdom.
Rick Fawn: Mr. President, thank you again for this tremendous opportunity. I’m Rick Fawn from the United Kingdom. If I may, I would also like to take this opportunity to say that the Embassy in London does fantastic outreach, and it's a tremendous privilege and pleasure to work with them. Mr. President, could you update us on the prospects of relations with Iran, especially in view of some high-level meetings and the prospects with the new Iranian president, one who has Azerbaijani heritage? Thank you very much.
President Ilham Aliyev: We are waiting for President Pezeshkian to pay a visit to Azerbaijan this month. We consider this visit as very important with respect to the future development of bilateral relations and regional development. There have been several visits of high ranking officials from both countries in recent months. We've been very encouraged by the election process in Iran, which led to the victory of the President and with the messages, which we receive from Iran. So we want to have good relations with all our neighbors, including Iran.
There is quite a substantial part of economic and transportation agenda, because we talked about the Middle Corridor. At the same time, Azerbaijan is part of another important North-South corridor. It's only enough to look at the map to see that it will be very difficult to avoid Azerbaijan while building these connectivity lines. And on Azerbaijani territory, all the work related to highway and railroad infrastructure has been done. We are now modernizing our railroad with respect to the expected large volumes of cargo. It exists, but we need to expand its capacity to be able to receive all cargoes from South to North and backwards.
Many issues related to energy infrastructure and electric energy lines have been resolved. We export electricity to Iran. And also, we are working on issues related to multilateral cooperation in the region. Yes, we cannot forget the tragic events, which unfortunately happened, like the terrorist attack on our embassy, but that was before President Pezeshkian came to power, and we are absolutely sure that it was an organized act of terror against Azerbaijan, and all the narratives that it had some personal grounds are absolutely groundless. For 40 minutes, the terrorist was trying to and actually managed to penetrate the building, and then, when he was pushed back by an armed security officer, he had already managed to kill one and severely wound two others. And for 40 minutes, there was no police around in the city center. Can you imagine that? It's not possible to imagine. And the terrorist had a Kalashnikov, had a hammer, had a Molotov cocktail — all that is filmed by our cameras inside and outside.
And the police officer, who was supposed to defend the embassy, ran away. And okay, probably he was afraid. But why didn't he inform the police department, which is next door, that there was a terrorist attack on the embassy? And I asked our Iranian visitors: if you were me, what would you think about that? That was very unfortunate, and you know that we pulled back completely our embassy staff. Then, I received a promise from the late Foreign Minister of Iran. It was already a long time ago — more than one year — that the perpetrator would be brought to justice and he would receive the highest possible punishment. But it didn't happen until now. More than two years have passed, and immediately after the terrorist act was committed, the terrorist appeared in the media, giving interviews. Have you ever seen something like this, that the person who killed someone in the embassy of another state gives an interview immediately? And on the same day, he was announced to be crazy. But you know, we all know the procedure of medical expertise — it takes time, because sometimes criminals or perpetrators of different criminal activities pretend to be crazy. To define whether they are crazy or not, mentally ill or not, you need time. You need a medical commission. And it was officially announced that he is just mentally ill. And now, it's more than two years, and the sentence has not been executed. Though we know in cases less aggressive, the execution of sentence in Iran takes maybe a couple of months, but in our case, it's more than two years. So, can we forget it? No, no. It overshadows relations, and our hope is that the new government will fulfill the promise of the previous government — not only the person who committed this terror act, but also those who were behind him and those who sent him to attack the Azerbaijani embassy, will be punished. So, having said all that, at the same time, with the new administration, we have working relations. We expect them to address this issue. We understand the complexity of political system, we understand the limitations of the executive power. We know all that. But nevertheless, in order to normalize completely relations between two countries, this terror act, and those who perpetrated and those who were behind the terrorists, must be brought to justice and punished.
Hikmet Hajiyev: Talat Shabbir, Pakistan.
Talat Shabbir: Thank you, Mr. President. I'm Dr. Talat, representing the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad, Pakistan. Thank you very much for the opportunity I was given to be here for the first time in Azerbaijan. It was wonderful to be in Karabakh too, yesterday. My question is on China's role in the Global South. We know China's initiatives, like the Belt and Road Initiative, are fostering mutual development. Despite the challenges of long-term sustainability in the developing world, China's diplomatic, economic, and political influence is growing in Africa, Latin America, and Asia. China also offers an alternative model to Western-led institutions such as the IMF and World Bank. How does China's engagement with the Global South — as a national leader — reshape the traditional, Western-dominated global order? Thank you.
President Ilham Aliyev: Well, with respect to the financial side of your question, I'd like to say that Azerbaijan has, for many years, almost completely reduced its dependence on international financial institutions. We stopped cooperation with the IMF soon after I was elected President for the first time. With other financial institutions, we either completely emptied the portfolio or were very close to that. Our direct foreign debt is something more than 5 billion US dollars only. So it's about less than 7% of our GDP, which is an indicator that we are not in need of financing. On the contrary, we've been approached by financial institutions with offers to borrow funds, and we are now working with them because we do not want to completely empty the portfolio. Among our main partners, with respect to financial institutions, we also have the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, which was created at the initiative of China. So, from this point of view, it's difficult to comment, because actually, this is not on my agenda, since it is done.
On the political and transportation track, yes, we see a lot of positive developments. Among them, I would name the Declaration on Strategic Partnership between China and Azerbaijan, which was adopted last year as a result of my meeting with President Xi Jinping. This is a very important milestone in our bilateral relations because having a strategic partnership format of cooperation with such a great country as China is, of course, of extreme importance for us. We actively work now with Chinese companies. We invited them to be our strategic partners in different areas, including the green energy. I would name that their companies have been selected as our partners in the manufacturing of green public transportation vehicles. The first production is expected this year, and they are also suppliers of solar panels, which are being installed in Azerbaijan with the investments from other countries. Also we are in the phase of negotiations with some Chinese companies with respect to direct investments in green energy.
We are starting a dialogue on defense industry cooperation, and we think that that could be a very promising process because, as we already discussed, Azerbaijan is continuing to modernize its armed forces. Of course, for us, it will be also interesting to diversify the geography of supplies and also engage in joint manufacturing. And definitely, the Middle Corridor; One Belt One Road Initiative of President Xi Jinping, which, as I said, in Europe they want to call it the Global Gateway. Frankly speaking, I don't know what it means, but the One Belt One Road is a project, which we have supported from the very beginning - not only publicly supported but also invested in it. We built the biggest seaport on the Caspian shore. We are now manufacturing six vessels at our shipyard. Our shipyard is now fully packed with orders. We upgraded our railroad and even invested additional funds to increase the capacity of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railroad on Georgian territory. So, its capacity is now 5 million tons. We think that part of the cargo from China will also go through Zangazur, through the Zangilan road.
By the way, coming to the previous question, one of the issues we are discussing with the Iranian side is to build a bypass - bypassing Armenia - and connecting Nakhchivan with mainland Azerbaijan through Iranian territory. The highway bypass is being done. We are building the bridge. And the railroad bypass is something which Iran and Azerbaijan must agree on, because Armenia is blocking our access to Nakhchivan. We cannot sit and wait. So, we agreed that we will build a bypass, and Armenia will continue to be a deadlock in the region. So, transportation, definitely, and the Middle Corridor will be one of the most important factors of our bilateral agenda from a practical point of view. Of course, Azerbaijan is also an active country of the Global South, and China plays a very important role in the Global South. China is also a member of the Non-Aligned Movement, which we chaired for four years. So, it is a very diversified relationship - very strong and with great potential for the future.
Hikmet Hajiyev: Mr. President, we are almost two hours in, and considering your busy schedule, and that we also have quite a substantial number of questions, with your permission, at this stage - though we still have around eight or nine questions - I can somehow combine the questions together.
President Ilham Aliyev: If audience is not tired, we can continue.
Hikmet Hajiyev: Our next question goes to Jordi Xucla, Spain.
Jordi Xucla: Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. President, for this opportunity. One short comment and one question. Now, I’m a professor of international relations, but in one of my previous capacities - as a member of the Spanish Parliament and as a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe - I spent years trying to find a solution for Karabakh in accordance with international law. One conclusion from this is the failure - an absolute failure - of international organizations to help achieve solutions. So, congratulations for the bilateral compromises made without international organizations interfering.
The question, Mr. President: A new world order is starting, but some political patterns remain as good tolls for international relations. One example of this is the strategic thinking within the Non-Aligned Movement's mindset, which you have been sharing since 2014. What is the role of Azerbaijan as a middle power in a new world order, in light of the experience of the Non-Aligned Movement chairmanship? Thank you very much.
President Ilham Aliyev: We treated our chairmanship with great responsibility. We were a relatively new member of the Non-Aligned Movement. When we were selected as the chair country, it had been less than 10 years since our membership. So that means our strategic decision to join this institution was absolutely timely and absolutely correct. And during these years, as I said, we worked a lot in order to try to transform this into an organization. We understand that it's a long process, but certain institutional platforms have been created—we have already talked about that. Also, for us, it was an opportunity to demonstrate ourselves. On one hand, unfortunately, COVID happened, but on the other hand, it also gave us the opportunity to demonstrate that we not only talk, but we act—and we acted in a very responsible way, helping countries that suffered a lot. We provided 10 million US dollars in direct assistance, and 10 million US dollars through the World Health Organization. And by the way, the database for COVID, which was elaborated by us during that time, was taken as a platform by the World Health Organization. So, it was a very diversified support and solidarity process. Another legacy of Azerbaijan’s chairmanship is that we initiated—and it was supported—the creation of a Troika to maintain synergy. So, though we are no longer in the position of chair, we are in the Troika, so we have certain instruments for moving the organization forward, and we will continue to work on that.
You mentioned the Council of Europe, and actually the inability of international organizations to facilitate the resolution of the conflict with Armenia. Yes, I remember the time when we joined this institution. At that time, I was a member of parliament, and we had great expectations that joining the Council of Europe would help us bring this issue to the international agenda, to have the support of European structures—because it was obvious who the victim was and who the aggressor was.
But unfortunately, it didn't happen. After we joined the Council of Europe in 2001—and by the way, I was the first head of Azerbaijan’s delegation there—we started to see that, unfortunately, our just position was not supported. We saw a lot of pro-Armenian lobbyists there. And I even remember those whom we called, among ourselves, “haters of Azerbaijan,” and there are still a lot of them, even now.
So, our expectations did not come true—we could not even seriously engage the Parliamentary Assembly in addressing this issue. The maximum we achieved, I think, if I am not mistaken, was in 2005—a resolution which reflected the conflict and the occupation. Because of two facts: first, the Parliamentary Assembly was mainly anti-Azerbaijani; and second, the OSCE Minsk Group blocked every organization from addressing this issue.
I know that the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group even visited Strasbourg in order to deliver a consolidated message from the United States, France, and Russia to the Council of Europe: “Stay away from this process; it is our monopoly. Don’t interfere.” So, this is how it was. So, our expectations with respect to using this platform to address this issue did not come true. Moreover, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe decided to punish Azerbaijan for the restoration of our sovereignty. In September 2023, the separatists were totally eradicated in Karabakh. In January 2024, they decided to deprive our delegation of its voting rights just because of that. Yes, they want to pack it into a kind of human rights issue, but it's not true.
As I said, we have been a part of this institution since 2001, and never before had Azerbaijan’s delegation’s credibility or credentials been doubted. So, it was exactly because we restored our sovereignty and territorial integrity that, several months later, they decided to deprive us of voting rights, and we decided that under these circumstances, we would just come home. Since that time, we have not participated in their sessions.
By the way, taking into account that we did not participate in the election of judges for the European Court of Human Rights, all the decisions of the European Court, for us, are invalid. This is a position we elaborated, and I just take this opportunity to announce that none of the decisions of the European Court are valid for us because we were deprived of our voting rights. We did not vote for these judges. We don't know who these judges are. So, I think the Council of Europe shot itself in the foot. They wanted to discriminate against Azerbaijan, to isolate us, but actually, they isolated themselves from the Caucasus. And look—recently, the Georgians did the same. I fully support the decision of the Georgian government to put an end to their presence there because, again, it was discrimination.
Unfortunately, this colonial thinking among some European politicians—especially those who could not or didn't manage to be elected to the European Parliament and found their place in the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly—is counterproductive. I said at that time: did anyone in Azerbaijan notice that we're no longer there? No. We can live like that.
By the way, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe came to Baku last November to attend COP29 and asked me that we do not pull back completely from the organization. I said, “Okay, if you ask, we will stay.” But whether we stay or leave, nothing changes here.
The world has changed since we joined this institution, and Europe has changed dramatically. Our aspirations with respect to the European Union have changed dramatically, and the topic of your discussion has changed.
After President Trump came to power, this change became complete, and to behave as if nothing happened and to continue to think that some resolutions in Strasbourg, in the Council of Europe, or the European Parliament make any difference for us is very naive. It’s absolutely inadequate, our attitude toward these institutions. We, as Azerbaijan, feel very comfortable in our region.
We have already discussed this issue—whether it's the South Caucasus, a bigger region of Central Asia, or the Middle East. We have a very comfortable, self-sufficient economy, a stable political system, full consolidation of society around a national idea, and, of course, the victory in the Second Karabakh War consolidated society even more. Bureaucrats in Brussels and Strasbourg just live on their own planet. They think that everybody around them is trying to come closer.
No, that time passed—at least for Azerbaijan—many years ago. Partnership? Yes. Friendship? Also yes, if you do not interfere in our affairs and if you don't want to impose your so-called values on our society. Yes—but nothing more.
So once again, thank you very much for raising this issue. You gave me an opportunity to reveal a little bit about how we treat the situation and how we try to find our place in the changing world.
Hikmet Hajiyev: Anatoly Boyashov, Belarus.
Anatoly Boyashov: Thank you, Mr. President. It is my honor and pleasure to be here. I represent the Belarusian Institute of Strategic Research, created by President Lukashenko in 2019. Our main function is to provide our President with analytical information. It was a demanding task to choose only one question, given the enhancement of our bilateral cooperation. Nevertheless, we observe that the technologies of electoral interference have become more sophisticated recently, and still, despite this, Azerbaijan held presidential elections with the highest degree of stability and political resilience. And my question is: What is the formula for Azerbaijani electoral sovereignty? And if I may, do you observe a change in the technologies of electoral interference?
President Ilham Aliyev: Well, interference in our elections in previous years was not through technological processes, but through very simple instruments. First, the money channeled by so-called Western NGOs to Azerbaijan; second, anti-Azerbaijani propaganda in the Western media—those whom President Trump calls fake news, like The Washington Post, The New York Times, and, of course, French pro-governmental media, also fake news media like Le Figaro or Le Monde. So, creating a kind of atmosphere that Azerbaijan is a dictatorship, that Azerbaijan has no democratic experience, that human rights are brutally violated, that the opposition is made up of angels and the government is the devil. So, it was very simple. At the time, we were a little bit naive and could not even imagine that those who smiled in our faces wanted to stab us in the back. We actually did not fully control the financial flows of these funds, and that was the reason why such notorious institutions like the National Democratic Institute (NDI) were actually plotting a coup d’état here. It was detected. We traced more than 1 million US dollars from a bank account, which was cashed out, and then we found part of that money in rented apartments of pro-opposition activists, together with Molotov cocktails and instructions on how to attack government buildings, how to attack policemen. So, we experienced all of that. The attempts at an Orange Revolution here in 2005, inspired by the US State Department—we all remember, and we never forget. So, it was very simple. Now it’s more difficult to do because, first, we have full control over the financial system. Second, all so-called grants provided to so-called local NGOs—actually branches of the opposition—now have to be registered, and it is very difficult to smuggle money here. But unfortunately, some Western institutions are very creative. They find new ways to smuggle money here, through different couriers. They get this money mainly in Georgia. Saying "in Georgia," I don’t want to make it sound like it’s coming from Georgia itself—no, it is from these Western non-governmental organizations, which are still operational in Georgia. Through Georgian banks, which are controlled by foreigners, credit cards without names, and cash money are being brought here in order to destabilize the situation. But when we trace that, when our law enforcement institutions bring these money smugglers to justice, they start accusing us of doing undemocratic things. So, this is how it was in Azerbaijan. I hope it will end, because it is absolutely useless. It makes no sense, and everybody knows who is who. But nevertheless, we’re not guaranteed that one day they won’t again decide to bring in a puppet and put them in the presidential chair to rule Azerbaijan as they wish.
What President Trump started to do is very promising, but I think he should not stop. USAID, of course, is the number one monster—it is a completely corrupt structure. I already talked a little bit about that. Radio Liberty and Voice of America—it is very good that they have already stopped. But it’s not enough. You should go deeper. Human Rights Watch, Freedom House, Amnesty International, Transparency International—all this infrastructure of his political enemies must be totally made dysfunctional.
And again, we, as a country that has faced all these smear campaigns and coordinated attacks on Azerbaijan, know very well how it works and how it functions. We know the people, we know the people in the embassies who are involved in illegal activities, and we are ready to provide the United States Prosecutor’s Office and law enforcement agencies with all the information about the illegal, destructive activities of Mr. Trump’s predecessors. So, I think I answered your question about that. Thank you for being with us.
Hikmet Hajiyev: Ahmed Taher, Egypt.
Ahmed Taher: Thank you, Your Excellency, dear President, for giving me a fair chance to be here for the second time. I have a comment and a question. First, the comment: What I saw yesterday in Karabakh—I have visited Karabakh three times—and yesterday, I saw that this is the third success story of Azerbaijan since its independence in 1918, and later in 1991. Today, the reconstruction of Karabakh after its liberation is, I think, very, very important for us. I would like to know how Azerbaijan reconstructed Karabakh after its liberation. I see that this represents a unique success, and I congratulate you. Second, as for my question: Azerbaijan plays an important role in the Islamic world. We would like to spotlight Azerbaijan’s policy toward the latest crisis in the Middle East, especially regarding what happened in Gaza, Syria, and Lebanon.
President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you for your comments about our country, and I'm very grateful that you have already visited Karabakh several times. Thank you for that. With respect to the situation in Gaza, Azerbaijan has been actively advocating for a ceasefire and the cessation of military operations from the very first days of the crisis, and our position remains unchanged. With respect to the situation in any country, it is a matter for the countries themselves to decide what is a priority for them. Therefore, we usually try not to comment on domestic situations in any country—even in Armenia, during the times of occupation, we never commented on their domestic agenda. But at the same time, with respect to Syria, I can say that we are glad there has been a change in government. During the previous leadership, Syria unfortunately took a very pro-Armenian and anti-Azerbaijani position. There were a lot of political contacts between the Armenian leadership and the Syrian leadership. Previously, there were letters of congratulations, mutual visits. Now today’s Armenian government thinks that nobody remembers that. But we all remember how close they were to the government of President Assad, how they communicated, how they cooperated. Now, when we see that they are trying to send humanitarian assistance to Syria, it once again demonstrates Armenian hypocrisy, and I hope that the new Syrian government will not allow these hypocrites and enemies of the new government to try to find ground in Syria. So, we support the new government of Syria. We exchanged official letters and we congratulated them. And, of course, we are very glad that now, finally, on the southern border of our brotherly country, Türkiye, there will be peace. There will be no threat to Türkiye from Syria. This, for us, is a very important development. It is also part of the global changes. And apart from that, we are glad for ourselves, for the Syrian people, and for Türkiye.
In general, with respect to our role in the Islamic world, it is highly appreciated by Muslim communities. Azerbaijan has been selected many times as a host country for different events, and we will also host the Summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. The Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) has elected Shusha as the capital of Islamic culture. And last May in Shusha, the Secretary General of ICESCO and I inaugurated this. So, our role with respect to solidarity between Muslim nations is highly appreciated by the religious leaders and political leaders of the Muslim world, including the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Arab League. Our support for our brothers is highly appreciated by them. And the last point on that: I think that countries of the Muslim world, when assessing or elaborating their policy toward the situation in any Arab country, should first have some guidance from the Arab League. I think that will be the best way to address these issues and express their attitude—because they know better. The Arab League unites all Arab countries. The policy of the Arab League on every issue related to the situation in Arab countries should be—and at least for us, it is—a guidance, and I think it should be like that for everyone.
Hikmet Hajiyev: Mr. President, Urs Unkauf, Germany.
Urs Unkauf: Excellency, Dear Mr. President Aliyev, it's an honor to have you with us today. Thank you very much for that. I would like to draw attention to the bilateral relations with Germany. You just mentioned that our President, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, recently paid an official visit to Azerbaijan, and there was some miscommunication by the German President's administration prior to the visit, when they posted a flag of the dissolved, illegal, and occupation regime. Fortunately, they removed it from the German President's website, and a note of apology was sent to you. So, my question is: I've read the official statement, but what are the expectations of Azerbaijan with regard to Germany, concerning political and economic cooperation, as we are currently undergoing the final stages of forming a new government? Thank you very much.
President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you very much. First, on that situation with the flag, of course, we were all very surprised to see that. And frankly speaking, I'm trying to be as frank as possible. As always, it was very difficult for us to think that this was a mistake because Germany is a country with long, long traditions of statehood. All the attributes are carefully taken care of. It was not only the flag, which was a flag of separatists, an already dead separatist entity. There was also a comment where we saw Nagorno-Karabakh. Nagorno-Karabakh does not exist. It exists, as we say, only in the dreams of Armenian revanchists and those who support them. So, putting that wording in that statement, we considered it an insult to Azerbaijan. Another factor, which did not allow us to see that it was a mistake, is that, if you remember, the picture of the flag was torn. If they had sorted the flag of Armenia, why did they put a torn flag? So, the torn flag, probably in the minds of those who put that picture, meant that maybe the so-called wounded Artsakh. That was the message to Azerbaijan. We took it very seriously, and frankly speaking, there were several options for us to act. If there hadn’t been an apology, then probably the time of the visit could have been changed. So, this is just, I tell you, our internal kitchen. The German ambassador was invited to the Foreign Ministry to clarify the situation, and he said, if I'm not mistaken, that they would not apologize. Huh Hikmet? So, it was another surprise. Then, my assistant Hikmet Hajiyev contacted the head of administration of President Steinmeier. And what was the answer, Hikmet?
Hikmet Hajiyev: Mr. President, at the initial stage, Madame Chief of Staff said that it was a technical mistake, and “please accept our apology and we will delete it.” But it was just a very well-meant apology between us. But I received additional instructions from your side, and “Azerbaijan is insisting, we are expecting a public and formal apology from our German counterparts.” Afterward, it was delivered in written form.
President Ilham Aliyev: Yes, thank you. That's how it was resolved. But, of course, they shouldn't have done it. It was an absolutely useless and meaningless attempt to hurt us. I am absolutely sure that President Steinmeier didn’t know anything about that, and that was what he told me, and I fully believe him. First, because I respect him a lot. And second, frankly speaking, I also do not follow what they put on my pictures. If something wrong is put there, you know whom to blame for that. But if something wrong were put, definitely we would have apologized without even requesting that.
The visit itself was successful. President Steinmeier and I have known each other for many years, since he was the Foreign Minister. He visited us several times, and last year we met in Berlin. It's always a pleasure to talk to him. He's a very skillful politician and a great statesman. So, the German people can be proud of him. With respect to the substance and the form of the visit, as seen in the media, everybody can see that it was a very friendly, very cordial interaction, with a cultural program, with a lot of time for us to discuss different issues. Of course, the substance of our cooperation on the business track is very broad, and we consider this visit, by the way, the first visit of the President of Germany to Azerbaijan, as an important milestone in our relationship. So, all the messages, which were given from Baku by both presidents, were extremely positive and timely. I think that this is also a good message to the business communities of our countries to engage more actively in the bilateral track. Our expectations from Germany, especially from the new government, with respect to the European Union, are to continue to pursue an independent policy because, as you know, there is one country in the European Union which does a lot of bad things to Azerbaijan and pretends to be a leader without any grounds. The leading economy is Germany, and the leading political force in Europe is Germany. So, I hope that the European Union will not fail under the influence of pro-Armenian groups there.
Hikmet Hajiyev: Our final question goes to Huseyn Ishiksal, Northern Cyprus.
Huseyn Ishiksal: Mr. President, it's so nice to see you here after, you know, October 2023, when I accompanied my president, and you accepted us for an official trip. I'm the Special Advisor to the President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. So first of all, let me convey the warmest greetings of my president to you personally. It's always nice to be here because we are brothers, and I usually feel like I’m at home. I mean, I don't feel like I have come to a foreign country. I'm going to ask a question about the Organization of Turkic States, our red apple dream and vision, but their ambassador, Hulusi Bey, already asked it. So I don't want to steal your time. I just want to hear about your valuable comments and recommendations on how we can improve relations between my country and Azerbaijan in a deeper sense. Thank you very much.
President Ilham Aliyev: Yes, you know that President Ersin Tatar visited Azerbaijan, and we always find time to meet at international events. There was a great event, the Cultural Days of Northern Cyprus in Azerbaijan. And Azerbaijan, as you know, played an important role in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus becoming an observer in the Organization of Turkic States. And so, you know how it happened; I don't want to go into much detail, but we were among those who actively advocated for that. President Tatar was invited by me to attend the Informal Summit of the Organization in Shusha, and he was with us with the flag of Northern Cyprus. So, our contacts continue. You know that different representatives of civil society, the Azerbaijani government, and Parliament visit the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus often, and there are also visits from Northern Cyprus to Azerbaijan. So we are always with our brothers. Our policy is always very clear and straightforward. We don't have any other agenda other than how we can be helpful to our brothers in Northern Cyprus, who deserve to have their own state. They deserve it by history and by their actions. We all remember the referendum, which was initiated by then-Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, when Turkish Cyprus voted for unification, and the Greeks in Cyprus voted against unification. And what happened after? Southern Cyprus was invited and became a member of the European Union. Was it fair? Of course not. Is it double standards? Of course, yes. But unfortunately, not many politicians want to talk about that. They prefer not to, in order not to have a headache, because one can imagine that they can create a lot of headaches, and headaches are not the most harmful things they can do. But with respect to Azerbaijan, I think among our brothers in Northern Cyprus, there is no doubt that we will be with you until the end. Until the independent country is established, and of course, recognized by the international community.
Hikmet Hajiyev: We would like to extend our appreciation and thanks to you. We almost had a 3-hour-long discussion. Thank you for your time.
President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you very much.
x x x
A family photo was taken at the end.
