The President said: “Azerbaijan`s Parliament is expanding its international relations, and today`s event, which brings together guests from various countries, is the evidence of this”.

“We can see that Azerbaijan is intensively integrating into the world community, and that all branches of the government in the country are working as a single team for a single objective. And this objective is strengthening further the state independence of Azerbaijan, for the country to enter the list of the developed states”, he noted.

The President said the path once chosen by the great leader Heydar Aliyev is “the only right one”, and that its goal is that “Azerbaijan must intensively integrate into the world community, develop on the base of

domestic resources, skillfully use its natural resources, ensure, to the maximum extent, its national interests, and have strong economic potential”.

“We are successfully conducting political and economic reforms. Once again I praise the Milli Majlis` activities in this regard. Azerbaijan has joined several important international agreements and conventions. We are adopting progressive laws, which serve to strengthen the political system and deepen economic reforms in Azerbaijan”.

“Today we face new tasks, new challenges, and we must be ready to tackle them. First of all, I want to reiterate that Azerbaijan will continue its independent policy, which serves national interests of the Azerbaijani people, and serves to protect them and better their welfare”.

“In the last few years, we have been the most dynamically developing country in the world in terms of economic growth. For the past four years Azerbaijan`s Gross Domestic Product saw 96 percent growth, and this has no analogues”.

The President said the poverty level in Azerbaijan declined from 49 percent to 16 percent in the past four years.

“And this demonstrates that all our decisions, our political and economic reforms, and our successful oil policy are, first of all, directed towards improving the people`s wellbeing”, he added.

President Ilham Aliyev said: “Over the last four years, Azerbaijan`s budget expenditures saw ten-fold increase. Our currency reserves are increasing, and by the year`s end they must reach approximately 20 billion dollars. This is a great advantage and great potential for us”.

On Azerbaijan`s international relations, the President said “we are acquiring new allies… and we are building our international policy based on mutual understanding and mutual interests with all countries, and this policy yields fruits”.

He said: “Today`s successful cooperation in the region is mostly the product of Azerbaijan`s initiatives. Through implementing energy and transport projects, we are strengthening our economic potential and are contributing to the regional cooperation”.

The Azerbaijani leader also touched upon his country`s conflict with Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh, calling it “a source of tension and great threat”.

“For many years we have been seeking a peaceful solution to the problem through talks based on international legal norms. The United Nations Security Council issued four resolutions demanding the withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from the Azerbaijani territories. However Armenia continues to ignore these resolutions”.

“For some reason, the international community remains indifferent to the issue. It must be solved justly, and not based on someone`s unfounded arguments. It must be solved in accordance with international law. The international legal norms must be applied to all countries, otherwise, the international community can face chaos”, said the President.

The Azerbaijani leader said the international community and international organizations must demand that Armenians “put an end to their aggressive policy and withdraw from Azerbaijan`s territories which the whole international community recognizes as the integral part of Azerbaijan”.

“And this is the only way of establishing peace in the region. This conflict does not concern only Azerbaijan and Armenia. It is a huge threat to the region`s security, regional projects and existing cooperation prospects”.

Concluding his speech, the President said “the first Democratic Republic existed for two years as it failed to preserve its independence”.

“It is over seventeen years that today`s Azerbaijan has been living as an independent state, and it will continue for ever”.

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