President Ilham Aliyev Addressed On Occasion Of Solidarity Day Of World Azerbaijanis And New Year

(MENAFN- AzerNews) President Ilham Aliyev addressed the people of Azerbaijan on the occasion of the Day of Solidarity of World Azerbaijanis and the New Year.

Azernews presents the full speech:

We are successfully concluding the year 2024. All the goals we set at the beginning of the year have been met. Our country has developed confidently. Our country's international reputation has increased significantly. There is positive development in the country's economy. Our military power has increased. Stability prevails in our country. The Azerbaijani people are living in conditions of security.

The events unfolding in the world today are clearly visible to all of us. New wars, confrontations and conflicts are flaring up. Bloody clashes continue in different regions of the world. Azerbaijan, however, lives in peace, tranquility, security and stability. I am sure that stability and peace will be eternal in the future too.

Many important developments took place in 2024. The most important of them was the liberation of four villages of Gazakh district, which were occupied in the early 1990s. We never took a step back from our position regarding these villages. We never forgot about these villages. The restoration of our territorial integrity and sovereignty simply had its own logic. We deal with everything, all the issues with confidence and consistency. At the first stage, we liberated a large part of Karabakh and East Zangezur from the occupiers in the Patriotic War in 2020. The part that remained under occupation was liberated from the occupiers through the anti-terror operation last year, and Azerbaijan restored its state sovereignty. This year, we regained four villages of Gazakh district without a single shot being fired, through political means. But it is also true that if the events that have occurred in Azerbaijan-Armenia relations over the past four years had not taken place, Armenia, of course, would never have voluntarily returned these villages to us. They were forced to do it. They did this realizing our political and military power, and I hope that from now on Armenia, while pursuing its policies, will continue to take into account the new realities created in the South Caucasus and, at the same time, in the world. We have created the new realities in the South Caucasus. The Patriotic War has created these realities. The restoration of our state sovereignty further strengthened these realities, and we reaffirmed the new realities we created in the South Caucasus on the diplomatic, international and political levels. The whole world has accepted the new realities.

Therefore, I believe that Armenia's large-scale armament campaign is yet another source of threat to the region. If we were to note the most worrying moment for us this year, of course, it would be Armenia's armament. There is no logical explanation for this. Armenia has faced a complete fiasco with its policy of aggression. Their military defeats in 2020 and then 2023 should have shown them the right path. We were trying to do this and are continuing our efforts to this day. I have repeatedly urged them both in my official statements and during our negotiations with the Armenian side to stay away from this dangerous path. The foreign circles and foreign countries provoking them and pushing them to attack Azerbaijan again will not stand behind them. They simply will not be able to. No force in this region can compete with us militarily. Therefore, let me say again, it is not too late for them to turn back from this dangerous path. The South Caucasus should be a region of peace, security and cooperation. Armenia's large-scale and rapid militarization, the supply of deadly weapons can disrupt this peace, the possible peace. I must also mention one thing. Azerbaijan will not simply observe this. Thirty years of occupation and destruction, the devastation of Karabakh and East Zangezur, the Khojaly genocide, the fact that one million of our compatriots became refugees and displaced persons because of Armenia will never be erased from our memory. We will never forget this. Armenia's policy, its aggressive substance must always be taken into account. Therefore, I once again feel obliged to warn the Armenian leadership to refrain from this dangerous path. Moreover, they are not capable of competing with us in military or any other field.

Given the large-scale militarization of Armenia, we have significantly increased our military budget for the coming year. It has reached a record level of 8.4 billion manats. Let me repeat that we were compelled to raise it to this level. Because we cannot lag behind in the arms race initiated by Armenia in the South Caucasus. However, if this arms race had not occurred, at least half of this money would have been channeled into other areas such as the restoration of Karabakh and East Zangezur and addressing the social problems of our citizens. Just for comparison, let me say that our military expenses will be 8.4 billion manats. Next year, we are allocating 4 billion manats to Karabakh and East Zangezur. It could have been the exact opposite. But Armenia and countries that stand behind it and give it harmful advices simply won't let this happen.

Nevertheless, the restoration of Karabakh and East Zangezur is progressing successfully. About 10,000 former internally displaced persons have already returned to these lands. The best conditions have been created for them. In general, more than 30,000 people live and work in liberated territories – both in the newly opened enterprises and social facilities, and in construction. Next year, of course, the number of citizens who will return there will increase significantly. I must also note that from 2021 to the present, Azerbaijan has allocated more than 19 billion manats for the restoration of Karabakh and East Zangezur, and the implementation of the Great Return Program will continue to be a priority for us.

Of course, our economy must develop in order to accomplish all these tasks. There are good results here too. This year, the gross domestic product grew by more than 4 percent, the non-oil sector expanded by more than 6 percent, and the non-oil industrial sector saw an increase of over 7 percent. We have increased our foreign exchange reserves and currently have more than 72 billion dollars in foreign exchange reserves. At the same time, we have also reduced our foreign debt. Today, Azerbaijan's foreign debt is only 5.2 billion dollars. In other words, our foreign exchange reserves exceed our foreign debt 14 times. If there is any developed country with figures close to these, show them to me. Therefore, in addition to all this work-such as the restoration of Karabakh and East Zangezur, the strengthening of our military power, and the implementation of social projects-we have also achieved these significant macroeconomic figures. We have both reduced our debt and increased our reserves, and this allows us the opportunity to implement extensive social programs. I can say that since 2019, four social package projects and programs have been implemented. A fifth package will be implemented next year. The funds allocated and to be allocated for these projects will constitute 7.5 billion manats.

As for the social sphere, I must also note that starting from 2025, the minimum wage will be increased from 345 manats to 400 manats, and the minimum pension from 280 manats to 320 manats. The increase constitutes approximately 14-15 percent. In other words, despite the implementation of all these major investment projects, the social sphere, people's livelihoods, and social protection will always be in the spotlight.

This year, the COP29 climate conference was held in Azerbaijan. I can say that this is the largest international event in the history of our independence, and I believe that it is the largest and most prestigious international conference in the world. We successfully hosted this major event in a matter of eleven months. The 76,000 registered participants witnessed Azerbaijan's potential firsthand. A total of 197 countries, 80 heads of state and government and vice presidents participated in the conference. This once again shows that all the efforts of some Western countries, so-called non-governmental organizations under their control and fake media outlets that wanted to use COP29 against Azerbaijan for eleven months were in vain. Their campaign is still ongoing. After COP, for almost two months now, a campaign of evil, slander, lies and fabrications has been underway against us. It aims to slander Azerbaijan and to damage its reputation. I do not even want to mention the names of the countries behind it. The Azerbaijani people know those countries perfectly well. The Azerbaijani people know very well from which source non-governmental organizations receive funds and from which capital they receive instructions. I hope that starting from the end of January next year, this policy of discrimination, evil and slander against Azerbaijan will be stopped. In any case, our hopes are high.

This year, the people of Azerbaijan placed great trust in me again. The support shown to me in the presidential election inspires and strengthens me even more. It convinces me even more that we are moving forward on the right path and that I will live up to this high trust in the future. I do believe that the people of Azerbaijan have no doubts about this either. Azerbaijan has been developing confidently, successfully and with dignity for 21 years. During these years, there have been difficulties, moments of trial, wars and groundless accusations against us. But none of them, not a single one of them could divert us from our path. We have restored our territorial integrity, and despite the wishes of world powers, we have also restored our state sovereignty – also contrary to the will of great powers. We are also governing our country with confidence. Those who want to put a spoke in our wheel will fail again.

Dear compatriots, today is the Day of Solidarity of World Azerbaijanis. I sincerely congratulate Azerbaijanis living all over the world on this holiday. I wish my dear people good health, prosperity, happiness and the best of luck.

Happy holidays!

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