(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 6. The Father of
modern Azerbaijan, Heydar Aliyev successfully pulled the country
out of its 'nosedive' and led his native land from its post-Soviet
dilapidated and destitute state into the position of one of the
most successfully developing former Soviet republics, David
Chikvaidze, Chef de Cabinet to the Director-General of the United
Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG), told trend .
He was sharing his memories of Heydar Aliyev as part of the
joint Trend-NGIC project titled 'The lasting legacy of Heydar
Aliyev'.
'The term Founding Father is usually associated with George
Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams,
Alexander Hamilton, men who created a Nation that lives, thrives,
and reinvents itself with every passing decade. In more recent
times, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Mahatma Gandhi, and Konrad Adenauer
stepped up to the historic moment and laid the foundation for their
respective great Nations and peoples. With the dissolution of the
USSR, and the appearance on the world stage of fifteen new
countries, they were all in a position to beget their own Founding
Fathers. Azerbaijan was among only a handful of those who proved
that a post-Soviet country could have a real Founding Father.
In true Founding Father fashion, Heydar Aliyev ensured that his
work and his vision for his country would be firmly grounded in
sound management and remain sustainable and successful in the long
term,' he said.
As Chikvaidze recalled, he first visited Azerbaijan only in
December 1994, as part of a United Nations delegation to review the
country's humanitarian needs at a difficult time.
'The delegation was received by President Heydar Aliyev, who had
recently returned to save and lead his country out of the deep
crisis that it had found itself in following the break-up of the
USSR. President Aliyev personally greeted each member of the United
Nations delegation by name. He gave a deeply knowledgeable overview
of the state of affairs in the country and a most profound analysis
of the regional and wider implications of the situation as it was
evolving in the South Caucasus and in all of Eurasia. We were
spellbound and knew that this was no ordinary politician we were
witnessing, but a major figure of contemporary history. He was one
of the most impressive political leaders I have ever encountered in
my career,' he said.
Chikvaidze noted that, for his family, as for most Georgians,
Heydar Aliyev was a household name since the 1970s.
He considered peace in the Caucasus as his overarching
commitment and was never tired of emphasizing this. 'Achieving
peace will not be easy, but common sense will prevail', he stressed
during his state visit to Georgia in 1996. 'The Caucasus must be
peaceful, the Caucasus must be secure, the Caucasus must be a
region of peaceful, good-neighborly, mutually advantageous
cooperation', he added.
'The foundations of the young State laid down by the Father of
modern Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev continue to be steadily and
creatively strengthened, widened and solidified by President Ilham
Aliyev. Under his astute leadership, Azerbaijan 'came of age',
becoming a leading power in the energy, political, and strategic
spheres, regained its territorial integrity and is a serious player
on the world stage, a flourishing major regional actor that
commands worldwide respect and an active and constructive member of
the United Nations,' Chikvaidze concluded.