Address by President Ilham Aliyev

Dear fellow countrymen,

The people of Azerbaijan have again placed great confidence in me in the presidential election. I would like to express my gratitude to my dear people for this confidence, for this great support.

I have always felt support of the people of Azerbaijan. This support gives me strength. This support is the primary condition for our development. People-government unity lies at the heart of our development in Azerbaijan. In this election the people of Azerbaijan voted for stability, security, development, prosperity, and highly appreciated what has been done over the past 15 years. We have achieved this success together with you.

People-government unity, our purposeful policy has transformed Azerbaijan into a powerful state. Azerbaijan`s international influence is growing, we managed to take a worthy standing on the global scale. Azerbaijan is today a country, which enjoys great respect, support in the world. We are a reliable partner, we are a country to be reckoned with, we managed to considerably strengthen our international standing.

We have not deviated by an inch from our principled position on the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Our principled position is being reinforced. This conflict must be solved within the framework of our country`s territorial integrity, there is no other way. In the past few years a number of influential international organizations have adopted several decisions and resolutions backing our position and justice. We have won great diplomatic victories. At the same time, we sealed victory on the battlefield. The Azerbaijan soldier, Azerbaijani army, the state of Azerbaijan liberated part of our territories from occupation. Part of Aghdara, Fuzuli, Jabrayil regions was freed from occupation, and Azerbaijan`s flag is today flying in these lands. Life returns to the retaken territories, people return there. The presidential election is held in these lands. The day will come when Azerbaijan`s flag will be raised, when the presidential election will be held, when the President of Azerbaijan will be elected in all our territories, which are under occupation.

We should grow stronger. In order to grow stronger we should build a stronger economy. There is not a second country that has developed economically as much as Azerbaijan has in the past 15 years. Our economy has grown 3.2 times and Azerbaijan is today one of the world`s most competitive countries. We rank 35th in terms of competitiveness. Our policy has always centered on the Azerbaijani citizen, his problems, concerns, his well-being. Salaries and pensions have increased 8 times in the past 15 years. This policy will be continued. Azerbaijan has become a country with space industry. We bring and apply advanced technologies in our country, and technological, scientific development will be one of the key priorities of our future activities.

In short, results are obvious in all areas. Azerbaijan is implementing huge energy and transport projects. On our initiative and with our participation these projects are redrawing Eurasia`s transport and energy maps. The state of Azerbaijan has never been this powerful. We have built a strong state, we should and will build a stronger Azerbaijan. We have gone through a decent path, a path of triumphs and success. I am confident that we will always move forward on the path of success. Towards new triumphs!