Touring western regions of Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Sheki on April 12. Here, he first visited the Heydar Aliyev Museum and viewed seven photo-stands reflecting life and activities of the great leader.

After touring the Museum the President addressed the public of Sheki. He said, in particular, that the main goal of his trips to regions is to promote acceleration of the processes of development there. “Implementation of the regional program of socio-economic development has led, over the last years, to opening of new enterprises, plants and other social objects, and therefore, hundreds of thousands of new jobs,” he said.

The Head of Sate dwelt on the problem of preservation of historical monuments in the region. He said: “There are vary valuable monuments of Azerbaijani culture in Sheki and adjacent area. We should safeguard these monuments, restore them... As you know, some Armenian circles, the Armenian lobby and some influenced politicians, have recently raised clamor against alleged destruction of Armenian tombstones in Nakhchivan, This is absolutely false and slanderous information; one more Armenian’s invention. All of the historical monuments located in Azerbaijan have been safeguarded. We have patience and tolerance in Azerbaijan. Representatives of all of the nationals and regions have been living here as a single family. On the contrary, not a single monument left in the occupied areas. The most valuable pieces were stolen and taken to Armenia; the rest was ruined… There is not a single Azerbaijani cemetery left in Armenia. There is not a single mosque left in the occupied territories. They destroyed everything”

On the same day, the President visited the Palace of Sheki Khans, a masterpiece of Eastern architecture built in 1761-62, toured silk factory Sheki-Ipek (Sheki-Silk), familiarized himself with the course of construction activities of the module power plant, and brickworks, the region’s largest enterprise.

Later, the Head of State met at the Olympic Sports Complex with entrepreneurs doing business in Sheki-Zagatala region, visited middle school # 1 and ancient Albanian temple in the village of Kish.

Finally, at the office of Sheki Executive Power, President Ilham Aliyev held a meeting on socio-economic development of the Sheki-Zagatala region.