On June 29, President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Ujar region of Azerbaijan. Thousands of local residents gathered on the central square in the town of Ujar to warmly welcome the Head of State and the First Lady Mrs. Mehriban Aliyeva.

The President attended a ceremony to open a monument to the great leader mounted in Heydar Aliyev Park. After the monument was unveiled, the Head of State and the First Lady laid flowers at its pedestal.

The President and the First Lady toured the park, which, as they were informed, had been fully reconstructed, and now is a good rest place for local residents.

Later, President Ilham Aliyev attended the opening ceremony of Heydar Aliyev Museum. Here, he viewed the photo-stands reflecting different periods of life and activity of the great leader. The President showed particular interest in the section devoted to Heydar Aliyev’s visit to Ujar in 1978. The Head of State was presented with the photo album entitled “The Great Leader living forever in memory of the people.” Then, he signed the Museum’s Memory Book.

The same day in Ujar, the Azerbaijani leader attended a ceremony of putting into operation of a newly reconstructed bus terminal. He cut a ribbon symbolizing the opening of the terminal, and toured the building. The President was informed that the terminal is capable to provide services to 700-800 passengers a day, and employs about 100 people. Later on the same day President Ilham Aliyev met with and addressed the Ujar public. Speaking of development of regions in the country, he said: “Regions of Azerbaijan will be developed more rapidly in the future with the country’s growing financial capacity. The main reason for that is successful implementation of the Heydar Aliyev’s oil strategy. Big investments have been made in Azerbaijan since the oil strategy was launched in 1994, and today, Azerbaijan is quite successful in implementation of its oil projects. Putting the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline into operation is an event of historic importance.” “Economic development, social justice, material well-being and improvement-construction work is what today constitutes Azerbaijan’s main priorities. I would like to repeat that we are capable to realize all these plans,” he continued. Touching upon the Karabakh problem, the Azerbaijani leader said: “I don’t see serious problems Azerbaijan could face in the future. The number 1 problem, however, is the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorny-Karabakh conflict, the Armenian aggression against Azerbaijan, ethnic cleansing and its bitter consequences. You know that we are seeking peaceful solution to the problem. To this end, we are participating in the negotiations. Though the talks have been running for over ten years, they are still unsuccessful, and sometimes, seem to be hopeless. Such ideas come into the minds of both the people and persons involved in the talks. How much longer should we participate in the negotiations? How much longer should we be waiting? We want the problem to be resolved peacefully; we don’t want war and bloodshed. On the other hand, however, we’ll never put up with the loss of our lands. Azerbaijan leadership will never put up with separation of Nagorno-Karabakh from Azerbaijan, and will never sign a peace treaty if it contradicts national interests of Azerbaijan. Our stance is open and clear. Territorial integrity of Azerbaijan cannot be a subject of negotiations. Territorial integrity of Azerbaijan is recognized by the whole world. Azerbaijan was admitted to the United Nations together with Nagorno-Karabakh, which is recognized by the whole world as integral part of Azerbaijan. This creates a good basis for peaceful resolution of this conflict. Azerbaijan will never recede from its position. On the other hand, we all are aware that Nagorno-Karabakh has always been the land of Azerbaijan; Armenians came here as guests, and there are reliable documents and facts confirming this. From political standpoint, Azerbaijan’s superiority is obvious. From economic standpoint, our country’s development will allow Azerbaijan’s economy to exceed Armenian’s ten- or even twenty-fold. Today, our economic level is already five times higher than that of Armenia. In terms of military possibilities, you know that we are taking great efforts towards strengthening our military potential. Our superiority is obvious in all areas, and I am convinced that we will solve this problem in our favor.” Afterwards, President Ilham Aliyev conversed with local residents wondering about their problems. President Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva in Ujar participated in a ceremony of commissioning a newly constructed apartment building for families of shehids and Karabakh war disabled veterans, and then arrived at the village of Gyzygumlag, where attended ceremonies for opening rural Hospital named after Academician Zarifa Aliyeva, middle school #2, and wedding celebrated in a newly built House of Festivity.