From the day of mankind, the personality of the leader was a very important factor for each society, the people and the state. If you look through the recent history, we will see that the leaders of different countries led their peoples either to the progress or to the tragedy. The history of Azerbaijan is rich in similar facts. In the early 90s of the previous century, our people, on the one hand, defended the territorial integrity of the country, and on the other, suffered from internal instability. At that time, incorrect internal and foreign policy of the so-called "Leaders of the Nation" even put Azerbaijan before the threat of collapse. Only after the arrival of the national leader Heydar Aliyev, our people entered into a new historical stage and the stability was reached within the country.
Today, a decent successor of the National Leader, President Ilham Aliyev confidently continues the successful development of our country. Ilham Aliyev, when taking office as a President in 2003, said: "I will be the president of every Azerbaijani people." And over the past 18 years, he won the sympathy and confidence of the absolute majority of the society. Realities of the last 18 years have proven that there is no alternative to the path of peace, stability and progress, laid by the political course of Heydar Aliyev.
Over the years of his presidency, Ilham Aliyev achieved the fact that geographically small Azerbaijan plays the role of an important entity that can influence regional and even international processes. Our people invariably support this political course. Three years ago, April 11, 2018, Ilham Aliyev, gaining 86.02 percent of the votes, won a convincing victory and was elected president of the Republic of Azerbaijan for seven years. The Azerbaijani people again voted for Ilham Aliyev and for strong Azerbaijan.
The past period was marked by the rapid development of Azerbaijan in all areas, strengthening the position of our country in the region and in the world. The protection of the national interests of the Azerbaijani state was the basis for further strengthening our independence and statement of civil consent. The policy held by President Ilham Aliyev increased the number of allies and friends of Azerbaijan. Our country has strengthened its position in the international arena. Regional and global initiatives served as to strengthen the image of Azerbaijan in the world, as well as the development of cooperation in the region.
Road to Karabakh
Over the past 18 years, President Ilham Aliyev has worked tirelessly on the elimination of the occupation of Azerbaijani lands, which was a serious challenge for our state. The Azerbaijani leader has always expressed its principal position in the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict: "Azerbaijan will never allow violation of its territorial integrity. The territorial integrity of our country must be fully restored. Karabakh is Azerbaijan!”
In all his meetings and speeches, President Ilham Aliyev has always affected the issue of occupation by Armenia Azerbaijani lands, noting that our country does not accept it. Ilham Aliyev, when re-elected as president in 2018, noted the elimination of the occupation factor as the main goal and, even two and a half years later, freed our lands from the occupation. Turning to the people on October 4, 2020, the president said: "Armenian Prime Minister dances in Shushe, Dzhydyir Duzue, and thinks that we will accept it?! We will never accept it! "
During the 44th day war, President Ilham Aliyev proved that he was a leader changing “Rules of the game". The Azerbaijani army under the leadership of the Supreme Commander Ilham Aliyev adequately fulfilled the liberation of our land from the occupation. The liberation of Shushi, the pearls of Karabakh, the ancient city of Azerbaijan, on November 8, 2020 as a result of one of the rarest and unique operations in modern military science, was the culmination of the Patriotic War. A tripartite statement signed by November 10 by the Presidents Ilham Aliyev, Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Nikole Pashinyan put an end to the military phase of a protracted conflict in the region.
It is important to note that in the state budget for 2021, 2.2 billion AZN was allocated for the restoration and reconstruction of liberated territories. For central coordination of these issues, a coordination headquarters (CH) was created by the decree of President Ilham Aliyev. The 16 working groups of 160 people representing 55 state structures are working at place. A strategic action plan has already developed. In accordance with the instructions of President Ilham Aliyev, the conceptual foundations of the restoration and reconstruction of the liberated places arranged based on the action plan.. Activities are planned to be implemented in 4 stages: management and safety; solving infrastructure issues; social services; economic reconstruction and development.
In the new reality, the kneading territories are the problem of the number one problem. The occupant massively mined our occupied lands over the past 30 years. As a result, after the end of the war, dozens of military personnel and civilians exploded in mines. The political and military leadership of Armenia continues to refuse to provide Azerbaijan with a map of mined territories.
Of course, victory in the 44-day war was a difficult task. We will not forget that for 65 years of the current system of international relations, "Rules of Games", formed after World War II, no country in the world has reached its goal in the war, with the exception of 5 permanent members of the UN Security Council. Disrupting this "unwritten law", Azerbaijan has proven the importance of restoring international law and justice. And in order to win, it is necessary to be an authoritative actor in international relations. Under the conditions of a fierce and complex struggle of world centers, foreign policy held by President Ilham Aliyev can serve as a model for most countries. Recent events in the region show that the independent domestic and foreign policy of the official Baku is the most optimal way to implement the national interests of our people and the development of our statehood. Azerbaijan is an important player in the Caspian-Caucasus region. This is almost the only example of a successful multi-vector foreign policy in the CIS. In practice, none of the former Soviet republics was able to establish equal relations with Russia, the European Union and the United States, as well as with Israel and Iran at the same time.
Structural reforms and personnel changes
Especially it should be said about reforms conducted in all spheres of the country, changes aimed at ensuring that state institutions respond to modern challenges, to combat corruption. Serious personnel changes made by the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev instilled confidence in the success of reforms serving democratic development. The head of state, constantly paying attention to the process of improving public administration, managed to ensure the activities of new, flexible and operational structures based on the modern laws of the development of society.
Today, the expansion of the personnel base in Azerbaijan has become a priority for the state. As President Ilham Aliyev noted: "We can not succeed with old thinking in the 21st century. Therefore, personnel reforms are inevitable. "
As a result of the transformations, we observe the appointment to the central and regional authorities of new young personnel, which are able to keep up with modern politics.
Internal stability and civil consent
Today, a new page is open and in relations between the opposition and the authorities. The dialogue between the authorities and the political opposition has been going on for a long time. Creating at the end of November 2019 in the administration of the presidential relations department of political parties and legislature and the beginning of the dialogue mean that the government of Azerbaijan is interested in the active role of parties and civil society institutions in political life. The dialogue between the opposition and the authorities at the same time led to the formation of a more functional and policy-oriented policy.
Given that Azerbaijan is in a very complex geopolitical situation, internal unity is necessary in the face of old and new external challenges facing our country. In the course of the 4th day war, we once again were convinced of the importance of national unity. Against the background of these processes, the format of dialogue and mutual discussions conducted by the country's management is positively assessed by everyone, with the exception of some radical political groups depending on foreign donors.
Economic reforms
Despite the economic and psychological difficulties caused by the global crisis of recent years, the determination of Azerbaijan to preserve its economic equilibrium, the successful implementation of the government's social obligations, as well as the lack of difficulties in the implementation of the term and necessary projects, confirm the success of the "Azerbaijan Development Model". Thanks to the state programs, development processes in the regions have been accelerated, specific programs relating to various areas of agriculture have been implemented. As a result of the reforms of Azerbaijan from 2005 to 2020, it moved from 69th to 34th according to the report on global competitiveness published by the World Economic Forum.
The development of the non-oil sector in the country has become a logical continuation of the policy pursued. Studying that a strong economy is an important factor in the development of any country, President Ilham Aliyev takes measures to increase the share of the non-oil sector in the country's economy. Thousands of jobs are designed as a result of large-scale infrastructure projects. The country is maintained and repairing hospitals and schools, the material and technical base of educational institutions is strengthened. The reconstruction of the transport system of Azerbaijan opens our country to enter the world. In the recent past, other major projects for the implementation of the transit potential of our country were successfully implemented. In this regard, it should be noted the construction of the international seaport and shipyard, the work done in the framework of TRACECA projects, North-South, East-West, commissioning Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway. The use of Italy of Azerbaijan liquefied natural gas from 2021 will result in the fact that some countries of the old continent will become stable energy partners of Azerbaijan in the future. With particular pride, it can be noted that under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijan managed to implement such projects of international importance as Baku-Tbilisi-Kars, North-South, Tap, Tanap.
In addition, we will witness the emergence of new geoeconomic ties in the region after the liberation of the occupied territories and the opening of the Zangezur corridor. Azerbaijan, which has become the political and economic center of the "Great Silk Road", reached arrangements with Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan on expanding the transit line through the Caucasus. All this means that, as one of the main transit countries, Eurasia, Azerbaijan is located in the center of trade, energy, fuel and communication relations East-West. This position is strengthened and, most importantly, the main world centers of regional integration are considering Azerbaijan as an alternative energy supplier and as an important transit country. As the transit capabilities of Azerbaijan increases, its planetary geopolitical value is growing, which is one of the key factors of its geopolitical partnership with foreign countries.
Fighting the pandemic
No force majeure can affect the fundamental and decisive approach of President Ilham Aliyev to the processes on its ability s decision are preventive x , coherent and systematically solutions. This fact is revealed in full measure in the context of the global fight against COVID-19 pandemic swept the world. Thanks to President Ilham Aliyev's strategy to combat the COVID-19 pandemic in three areas (protection of life and health; social protection; development of economic activity), Azerbaijan is among the countries that can minimize the losses caused by this common scourge. This fact has been repeatedly recognized by the leadership of the World Health Organization, and Azerbaijan is noted as an exemplary state in this regard. Measures to combat the pandemic in Azerbaijan have been chosen as a model by many countries. In reality, when the world is threatened by a pandemic, every state and every leader demonstrated his image, and in these difficult times, the state of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and his leader is truly an example for many g States countries and their leader s .
The transition of the countries of the world to a qualitatively new stage of economic, social, humanitarian and especially medical cooperation in the fight against the pandemic has acquired strategic importance. Undoubtedly, all these and other very important issues were included in the agenda of the special session of the UN General Assembly on December 3, 2020, initiated by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. The combination of international efforts to combat the pandemic COVID-19 and the unconditional support of the international community, an initiative aimed at strengthening the unity, solidarity and responsibility in the world, showed once again that the Azerbaijani state and Ilham Aliyev, the leader have a very high st reputation it in the international arena.
Thus, the time has shown that the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev managed to change the "Rules of the game", which decades were developing in the world and the region, and to build a truly independent state.
By Alimusa Ibrahimov
