Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev has congratulated the people of
Azerbaijan on the occasion of the Day of Solidarity of World
Azerbaijanis and New Year,Azertac reported.
The congratulatory message reads:
“Dear ladies and gentlemen! Dear fellow countrymen!
Year 2015 is being left in the past. The economic, political and
military crisis in our region further exacerbated in 2015. Risks and
threats have increased and new challenges have emerged.
Despite all this, Azerbaijan developed successfully in 2015. Our main
goal has been to secure a sustainable life of the Azerbaijani people
and achieve dynamic development of our country. Public and political
stability in Azerbaijan has been ensured. The people of Azerbaijan are
living and will continue to live in security. At the same time, the
price of oil dropped sharply in 2015 – it dropped three times. This was
impossible to imagine at the beginning of the year. However, it is a
reality. As a result of a judicious economic policy conducted in
Azerbaijan, economic growth has been secured. Non-oil sector development
has been achieved. In particular, I am especially delighted with the
development of the non-oil industry by more than 7 per cent. This
suggests that the policy conducted in previous years is yielding fruit.
Azerbaijan is a sustainable economy and our dependence on oil will
reduce even further. Of course, our revenues have dramatically decreased
and the national currency has depreciated. However, we have done and
will continue to do our best for this situation not to affect people’s
living standards. In particular, our main goal is to maintain consumer
prices at a stable level.
This year has been a Year of Agriculture. I am pleased that
agriculture has increased by about 7 per cent. In general, our economic
policies are also praised by prestigious international organizations.
According to the estimations of the Davos World Economic Forum, the
Azerbaijani economy is ranked in 40th places in the world for the level
of competitiveness. This is a great and historic achievement. It shows
that we are conducting a prudent policy and, of course, will continue to
secure the interests of the Azerbaijani people in the future.
Social issues are being resolved in Azerbaijan. Although our revenues
have reduced dramatically, not a single social program has been
postponed. All our social projects have been implemented. This is
evidence of the essence of our policies. It attests to the fact that our
policies are centered on citizens of Azerbaijan. We are building a
powerful state and a strong economy. At the same time, the well-being of
our people has always been a top priority for us.
The international reputation of our country further enhances in 2015.
My visits abroad and the visits of the heads of state and government of
foreign countries are further evidence of that. In 2015, I paid
official visits to different countries and attended international
events. I have paid visits to 20 countries and 15 heads of state and
government were in Azerbaijan on official and unofficial visits.
At the same time, our foreign policy is praised and respected by the
world community because we are conducting an independent policy. We have
a principled position on every issue. No outside force can affect our
will. Azerbaijan conducts an independent policy. This policy protects
the interests of the Azerbaijani people. The campaign of pressure and
threats against us do not and will not affect us in any way. We are not
afraid of anyone and anything. Our main mission is to serve our people
and enhance the international reputation of our country.
I would like to assure you that in 2016 and beyond we will not
deviate from our principled policies and will conduct an independent
policy. Let this be remembered by those who want to wage a campaign
against us. Their efforts are all in vain. They do not and will not
affect our policy.
Our main foreign political priority is to resolve the
Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. Unfortunately,
there was no progress in this direction in 2015. The reason for that is
clear to our people. Armenia does not want peace. It wants to delay a
solution and gain time. They conduct themselves insincerely in the talks
and use different pretexts to prolong the process of talks.
Our policy is to resolve this conflict on the basis of the norms and
principles of international law. Our territorial integrity must be
restored. The occupiers must vacate all occupied lands and Azerbaijani
citizens must return to their native lands. The UN Security Council has
adopted four resolutions regarding this conflict. These resolutions
state that the occupying forces should leave the occupied lands without
any preconditions and immediately. These documents form a basis for the
solution of the conflict. The issue must be resolved only within these
frames. Azerbaijan will never allow a second Armenian state to be
created on our lands. No-one will ever recognize the independence of
Nagorno-Karabakh. We will use all political, diplomatic, economic and
other resources to restore our territorial integrity. Justice is on our
side. Economic and political power support and reinforce our position. I
am sure that we will achieve what we want and Azerbaijan will restore
its territorial integrity. To achieve this, of course, in addition to
diplomatic efforts, we need to have a strong military potential, and we
are doing that. The people of Azerbaijan are already seeing that the
Azerbaijani army is among the world’s strongest armies.
In 2015, all of the enemy’s provocations received a fitting rebuff.
Devastating blows were dealt to the enemy and the situation on the
battlefield demonstrates our advantage again. We want to resolve the
conflict peacefully, but we will not back down from our position of
principle. If necessary, it is our sovereign right to use military
power.
The problems of internally displaced persons continued to be resolved
in 2015. Thousands of IDPs move to new houses and apartments every
year. This policy will be continued next year too.
Important steps were taken in the energy policy in 2015. The
implementation of the TANAP project has begun. The implementation of the
TANAP project is already a reality. Azerbaijan plays a very important
part here along with partner countries. Azerbaijan is the main
shareholder and main investor in the TANAP project. This project will
allow us the opportunity to transport our ample gas reserves to world
markets for decades to come. This will secure our political and economic
interests more fully.
We have done a lot of work this year to create transport corridors.
The East-West transport corridor is already being realized. A new Silk
Road project stretching from China, across Central Asia, Azerbaijan,
Georgia and Turkey to Europe is being realized and the role of
Azerbaijan is fairly large here. At the same time, Azerbaijan has taken
specific steps to create the North-South transport corridor. I am sure
that this project will also be implemented successfully. Thus, after
these two important projects have been implemented, Azerbaijan will
become an internationally indispensable transit country. There is no
need to explain what this means.
This year, European Games have been held for the first time in
history. Azerbaijan demonstrated its power here too. More than 6,000
athletes and thousands of guests came to our country and got acquainted
with our realities. The European Games were held at the level of summer
Olympic Games. The European Games have been a triumph of the Azerbaijani
state. At the same time, they have been a triumph of Azerbaijani sports
because our athletes and the national team won 56 medals, including 21
gold ones, finishing the Games in second place. This is a huge victory
of our state and every citizen of Azerbaijan is proud that we have
achieved this success.
The parliamentary election was held in 2015. This was a major event
for the development of our country. The parliamentary election was held
transparently and fairly. This was acknowledged by all international
observers. The will of the Azerbaijani people was fully reflected. The
results of the parliamentary election have been a reflection of the
people’s assessment of our policies. This is how I see it.
Azerbaijan moves along the path of democracy and development, and
this is our conscious choice. The unity between the people and the
government and national solidarity are at the highest level.
Dear friends, it is the Day of Solidarity of World Azerbaijanis
today. I want to take this opportunity to greet all the Azerbaijanis of
the world and wish you all the best. They, the people of Azerbaijan and
all Azerbaijanis of the world are aware that Azerbaijan is moving along
the path of independence and development. The independent Azerbaijan is a
strong state today. Our main goal is to further strengthen our state
and create an even better life for the people of Azerbaijan.
I sincerely congratulate all the people of Azerbaijan and
Azerbaijanis of the world on the Day of Solidarity of World Azerbaijanis
and the New Year, and wish every Azerbaijani family continued success
and happiness.
Happy holidays!”
/By Trend/