President Aliyev: Peace must prevail on Azerbaijan’s borders

President Ilham Aliyev has emphasised that Azerbaijan’s national agenda is focused on development, reconstruction, security, and regional connectivity, while underscoring the importance of achieving lasting peace based on international law.

Speaking at the opening of the 4th Shusha Global Media Forum, the head of state said Azerbaijan seeks stability across the wider region and believes that any sustainable peace must rest on universally recognised legal principles, Caliber.Az reports, citing state media.

"It has very many implications, and of course we would like to see peace to the south and to the north to be established as soon as possible, but the peace must be just and fair and based on international law and not based on someone's ambitions and agenda,” President Ilham Aliyev said.

Referring to Azerbaijan’s experience, President Aliyev noted that “international law is a universal platform for any peace, and for instance, if we look back to Azerbaijan's war with Armenia, Azerbaijan always was on the side of international law.”

Addressing Azerbaijan’s domestic priorities, President Aliyev noted that the country’s agenda is centred on long-term development and the restoration of territories affected by decades of conflict.

"Global agenda is development, sustainable development, reconstruction, restoration of Garabagh, finalization of all our projects, which will lead to new transportation routes and connectivity, is one of them,” the Azerbaijani leader said.

The head of state added that one of the main topics on Azerbaijan's agenda was digital transformation and the development of AI.

Aliyev also highlighted the strategic significance of regional transport initiatives, particularly the Zangezur corridor, describing it as a key project for strengthening connectivity.

"They clearly understood the necessity for Zangezur corridor, which will connect Azerbaijan with its Nakhchivan exclave,” Aliyev said during his speech.

The president further referred to international efforts aimed at advancing peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia, saying: "They worked very efficiently, also in order to persuade Armenia that they need this peace also, and that historic meeting in the White House when Armenian Prime Minister President Trump and myself signed joint declaration, and also in the presence of President Trump, ministers of foreign affairs of both countries initialed peace agreement.”

Turning to regional security challenges, President Aliyev stressed that defence and security remain among Azerbaijan’s most pressing priorities amid ongoing instability in the broader region.

"Probably number one under these circumstances is security and defence capability, because we see that security threats in our region are, unfortunately, not something which we read about in books, but rather circumstances we live in,” the president stated.

The head of state, emphasising that there are many issues on the national agenda, noted: “So probably the best way to characterize it is to strengthen our capability to defend our national interests, and to establish more practical and working relations with as many countries as possible.”

By Jeyhun Aghazada