The outgoing year of 2021 went down in the history of Azerbaijan as another bright page. Despite the continuing economic and social crisis in the world, the development trends have been maintained in many key areas in Azerbaijan.

Thanks to President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Victorious Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Ilham Aliyev’s wise policy, the Karabakh victory was strengthened at the political and diplomatic level, the international prestige of the country was further enhanced and the main objectives were achieved. The year 2021 was also marked by large-scale reconstruction work in the liberated territories.

AZERTAC presents a summary of landmark events in 2021.

5 January. President Ilham Aliyev has signed an Order to declare 2021 as a “Year of Nizami Ganjavi” in Azerbaijan.

11 January. President Ilham Aliyev paid a working visit to Russia. As part of the visit, a trilateral meeting among Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was held in Moscow. President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan and President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin have signed a statement. Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan have made press statements. A bilateral meeting has been held between President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin.

25 February. President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has attended a ceremony to give out apartments to families of martyrs and war disabled in the residential complex in Ramana settlement, Baku.

5 March. The 7th Congress of the New Azerbaijan Party (YAP) has been held. President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Chairman of the New Azerbaijan Party Ilham Aliyev made a speech at the congress in a video format.

20 March. President Ilham Aliyev congratulated the nation on the occasion of Novruz Holiday after lighting a holiday bonfire on Jidir Duzu, Shusha.

12 May. The “Kharibulbul” music festival has kicked off on Jidir Duzu plain of Azerbaijan’s cultural capital Shusha. 

28 May. President Ilham Aliyev attended ceremony to lay foundation stone for restoration of Aghdam city and met with members of general public.

29 May. “November 8” station of Baku Metro has been launched. President Ilham Aliyev viewed conditions created at the station.

4-6 June. Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the sixth round of the 2021 Formula One World Championship, has been held in the capital city of Baku. Max Verstappen looked set to take his first first-ever Azerbaijan Grand Prix victory before he crashed out from the lead with just five laps to go – giving Sergio Perez a second career victory, as Lewis Hamilton locked up on the penultimate lap to finish 16th in a hugely dramatic race in Baku.

15 June. An official welcome ceremony has been held for President of the Republic of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who arrived in Azerbaijan for an official visit, in Shusha. A “Shusha Declaration on allied relations between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Turkey” has been signed. President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have made press statements.

13 July. A Mid-Term Ministerial Conference of the Non-Aligned Movement has been held in a video format. President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev’s statement in a video format was presented at the event.

27 July. The Azerbaijani, Turkish and Pakistani parliaments have signed the Baku Declaration.

17 August. President Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva laid the foundation of Lachin International Airport. 

29 August. Museum Mausoleum Complex of the great Azerbaijani poet and public figure Molla Panah Vagif has opened in Shusha after repair and reconstruction work.

29 August. President Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva have viewed the master plan of the city of Shusha.  

30 August. The Vagif Poetry Days have been organized by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation in the native city of the poet for the first time after the liberation of Shusha from occupation.

23 September. The speech of President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev in a video format was presented during the General Debate of the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly  

5 October. President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev laid foundation stone for restoration of Jabrayil and met with members of the general public of the city.

18 October. President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva have met with members of the general public of Fuzuli district, and laid the foundation stone for the restoration of the city.

26 October. An opening ceremony of the Fuzuli International Airport has been held with the participation of President Ilham Aliyev and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

8 November. Restoration of Topkhana forest in Shusha started and a tree-planting campaign was held. President Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva planted trees in Jidir Duzu.

12 November. The Organization of Turkic States was established. During the 8th Summit of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-Speaking States held in Istanbul the decisions were made and signed to rename the Cooperation Council of Turkic-Speaking States into the Organization of Turkic States.

12 November. President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has been awarded the “Supreme Order of Turkic World”. The Supreme Order was presented to the head of state by President of the Republic of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the 8th Summit of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-Speaking States in Istanbul.

19 November. UN member states adopted a resolution on ensuring access to COVID-19 vaccines initiated by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. The resolution was co-authored by 126 UN member states.

26 November. Bilateral and trilateral meetings were held among Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Russian President Valdimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Sochi.

28 November. President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has attended the 15th Summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) held in Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan. President Ilham Aliyev made a speech at the Summit.

14-15 December. President Ilham Aliyev attended the meeting of the North Atlantic Council and the 6th Eastern Partnership Summit of the European Union in Brussels, the capital of the Kingdom of Belgium.

27 December. President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has viewed the new building of Azerbaijan State News Agency-AZERTAC. Chairman of the Board of AZERTAC Aslan Aslanov informed the head of state of the conditions created in the building.

28 December. An informal meeting of the CIS Heads of State has been held in Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation. President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev attended the meeting.