President Aliyev: Regional security has always been Azerbaijan's top priority

Regional security has always been Azerbaijan’s top priority, President Ilham Aliyev said, highlighting the country’s efforts to achieve lasting peace with Armenia. 

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 13th Global Baku Forum, the Azerbaijani president reaffirmed the country’s dedication to peace during years of occupation, Caliber.Az reports via Azertag. 

“Regional security for Azerbaijan has always been issue number one. During the years of occupation, peace and the restoration of our sovereignty were consistently at the top of our agenda,” President Aliyev said.

President Aliyev underlined the importance of political will for securing peace. 

“Fortunately, we are now living in peace for only seven months, and this demonstrates once again that you just need to demonstrate strong political will, courage, and commitment to the cause of peace and justice in order to achieve it,” the head of state noted. 

The president also emphasised that the peace achieved with Armenia is not just on paper.

“As I have also many times said, we achieved peace with Armenia not only on paper – though a peace deal was initialed and we adopted a joint declaration seven months ago – but we have peace on the ground,” he added, noting that shootings, victims, and casualties on shared borders have ended. 

He added that Azerbaijan has lifted restrictions on trade with Armenia and begun exporting critical oil products.

“We lifted all the restrictions to transport goods to Armenia from different destinations. We even started trade with Armenia. We started to export critical oil products to them, thus demonstrating that we are committed to peace – not just long-lasting, but peace forever,” the president noted. 

Moreover, the president reflected on the human and territorial impact of the conflict.

“Living in peace is a unique experience on a global scale. Millions of people are subjected to ethnic cleansing. For 30 years, 20 percent of our territory was under occupation,” he said, adding, “Today we suffer from a lack of international attention,” said the head of state, adding that we witness a selective approach from some international actors who were supposed to deal with the conflict.

On the forum itself, President Aliyev said the agenda was broad but expected discussions to focus on regional and global developments. 

“The agenda of this year's forum is very broad. It covers many issues, but I'm certain that during the discussions, the accent will be made on the current situation in our region and in the world,” he said, adding that security and stability should remain priorities for all countries. 

“I think that now it is more obvious than ever before that issues of security and stability and safety should be number one on the agenda of any country, because without that all the rest is absolutely useless,” he added. 

The Azerbaijani president also praised the Nizami Ganjavi International Centre as a leading institution contributing to global solutions. 

“The Nizami Ganjavi International Center is today one of the leading international institutions, which addresses a broad range of issues. The organization enjoys high international reputation,” he said, noting its role in developing new approaches to a changing international situation.

Additionally, President Ilham Aliyev addressed the rise in global oil and gas prices during his speech.

“We see that the unprecedented rise of the oil and gas prices creates a lot of problems for consumers and not only for consumers. If somebody thinks that this unbalanced price is good for those who produce and export oil, it's wrong,” he said, noting that Azerbaijan supports more balanced and predictable oil prices.

By Sabina Mammadli