Succession in politics: 26 years that changed Azerbaijans' fate and face
The world reinvented Azerbaijan
As I mentioned above, I was lucky to accompany President Heydar Aliyev in most of his foreign visits from 1993 to 2002 as a journalist. He took a map of the world every time he had a visit. He used to open the map, show where Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh were situated and gave explanations with a great deal of patience during meetings at different levels. Let’s admit that the world didn’t know us well at those times. Most of those who knew Azerbaijan did it for Heydar Aliyev and it is an undeniable truth.
Then, the Contract of the Century, which was signed with 11 foreign oil companies, made a noise in the world. As the years passed by, Azerbaijan’s voice started to be heard louder from reputable international tribunes. Finally, the world reinvented Azerbaijan, and its weight and reputation in the international arena started to rise every year as a result of President Ilham Aliyev’s successful foreign policy based on the national interests.
It is enough to remember only two of the many facts which testify to this process. Azerbaijan was elected a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council with the support of 155 countries and was admitted as a member to the Non-Aligned Movement represented by 120 countries in 2011. The 18th summit of heads of state and government of the Non-Aligned Movement is going to take place in Baku on 25-26 October and Azerbaijan will chair this reputable international organization in 2019-2022.
The number of countries which support our right position on the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has been increasing thanks to our president’s continuous efforts and consequent and flexible political moves. The view and position of the world on this conflict has significantly changed despite the fact that the Armenian propaganda machine works with full capacity and the Armenian lobby has strong means of influence on governments and parliaments. Now time works for us. Now the world is talking about Ilham Aliyev’s fierce statement to the leader of occupying Armenia and valid response to Pashinyan’s rave at the annual session of the Valdai International Discussion Club in Sochi, Russia: "Karabakh is a historical and original land of Azerbaijan. So, Karabakh is Azerbaijan and an exclamation mark."
We again witnessed the increasing interest of foreign businessmen and investors in Azerbaijan in the person of President Ilham Aliyev at the Davos Economic Forum this year: leaders of most globally reputable companies longed for meeting with our head of state and made beneficial proposals of cooperation with our country.
The thoughtful speech of our head of state at the annual session of the Valdai Discussion Club on the topic "The Dawn of the East" can be the latest example of his diplomatic proficiency. Being situated at the crossroads between Europe and Asia, Azerbaijan makes a maximum use of its geopolitical location and this has become possible due to the purposeful policy and titanic activities of our president, who has thorough knowledge of international relations.
