Novruz Mammadov: “Azerbaijan has gained important achievements in political, economic, cultural, social fields”

Royal Institute and the Center for Strategic Studies having held a meeting, SIA reports.

The Head of Foreign relations department of the Administration of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Dr Novruz Mammadov had a speech at the meeting.

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am very delighted to meet you at the Royal United Services Institute for Defense and Security Studies.

My thanks go to the Royal Institute as well as to the Center for Strategic Studies for having created conditions to hold such a meeting.

It goes without saying that our interaction and exchange of views to be conducted at this conference dedicated to the Azerbaijan – UK and Azerbaijan –Europe relations will be useful and with your permission I would like to share my views on some issues that I consider important for the time being.

I think that there is a need, first of all, to say a couple of words about Azerbaijan. Though it is a young State, Azerbaijan has the rich history, culture, literature, music and fine art. Indeed, it was Azerbaijan which became the first Democratic Republic in the Orient in 1918. Lasted only two years – from 1918 to 1920 – the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan has granted voting rights and possibilities for women to participate in political life. Furthermore, for the first time in the Orient the opera and ballet were introduced in Azerbaijan.

Today, Azerbaijan is a secular, prosperous and hydrocarbons rich country with the high intellectual potential. But, the most important among of all is the location of Azerbaijan which is a secular Islamic country situated at the crossroads of East and West, North and South, Islam, Christianity and Judaism. Global ongoing processes already demonstrate that Azerbaijan as a country will further increase its importance in the decades to come.

At the same time, Azerbaijan is the only state located between Russia and Iran. During independence years, Azerbaijan has gained important achievements in political, economic, cultural, social and other fields. The economic development is obvious: in the course of last decade, GDP growth has tripled in Azerbaijan; poverty level dropped from 49% to 6%; unemployment is reduced to 5.2%. The Azerbaijani economy already holds the 46th place in Global Competitiveness Index. Today’s financial performance of Azerbaijan can be a good example for any country. Strategic currency reserves make 70 percent of GDP; the volume of external public debt constitutes 7 percent of GDP. Suffice it to say that GDP of non-oil sector has increased by 2.4 times. Currently, the Azerbaijani economy ensures 75% of the South Caucasus economy.

As you can see, Azerbaijan is ensuring the balance of the economic development from a regional standpoint, enhancing social welfare and standards of living in the regions, as well as successive and interactive implementation of events aimed at the dynamic development of state economy, especially non-oil sector. Moreover, according to the Human Development Report by the UN Development Programme, Azerbaijan graduated from "average human development" group to "high human development" group (from 105 position in 2005 to 67 in 2010). Azerbaijan is considered to be the state that has made the fastest progress over the last 5 years among 169 state covered by the Report.

Dear friends,

It is pleasant to see today that the relations of bilateral co-operation between Azerbaijan and the United Kingdom are at the high level. These links which practically cover all fields are developing further. Political relations between our countries have been at the apex since first days of Azerbaijan’s independence. It is obvious that one of the largest contracts signed in the end of past century was the Contract of the Century concluded between Azerbaijan and British Petroleum.

As it goes at the bilateral level, our political collaboration is also satisfactory in the multilateral format. In this context, I would like to note in particular the co-operation of Azerbaijan which serves currently as a non-permanent member of UN Security Council with UN member-countries, and especially with the United Kingdom in ensuring international security. In parallel to our political ties, our economic ties can also be exemplary. Thus, dozens of UK companies participate as investors and contractors in various spheres of Azerbaijani economy such as construction, energy, trade, services and other fields. The brightest example of this co-operation is the BP – SOCAR collaboration in the energy field.

Our co-operation is also successful in the field of education. Each year, hundreds of young Azerbaijanis go to the UK for higher education in the prestigious educational institutions of Britain both at their own expenses and on the basis of the public funds. I should note that more, than one thousand Azerbaijani students currently study at various universities in the UK.

The co-operation with EU and NATO should be noted in particular. Since the early period, Azerbaijan has closely cooperated with both EU and NATO and passed a very successful way in this direction. It has contributed to peacekeeping operations in Kosovo and Iraq within international coalition. Azerbaijan participates in the processes of Afghanistan both by its military contingent and other means via providing training and assistance in various projects. Today, more, than one third of goods delivered to Afghanistan pass through Azerbaijan. Since 2014, Azerbaijan has an intention to expand further its co-operation in this field.

Dear participants,

Azerbaijan is working on building the civil society and ensuring the democratic development. More, than 50 political parties have the opportunity to participate in the political life of the country through representation in the legislative and local municipal bodies. Our country has implemented many reforms and our country is governed by democratic principals.

One example of this is the modern political life of our country, where in addition to traditional political activities newest trend – such as online political activism – is becoming a part of a daily routine for an average Azerbaijani and is taking political participation to the next level.

The reason is the efforts of an Azerbaijani government to ensure the widest possible outreach for its citizens that materialized through the special pricing and government support – we have the lowest prices on Internet in the region, they make approximately 2% of average salary in Azerbaijan.

Also, according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Information Technology Report, our position in the ranking is growing better and better from year to year, and has recognized the potential of information and communication technologies. Yearly improvement of ICT infrastructure, including the bandwidth of the Internet and the availability of online services are among strong points of our country - country ranked 20th for affordability of ICT services among 144 countries of the world.

The development of the Azerbaijani political system since gaining independence is notable for the fact that its institutions have grown in strength, despite numerous challenges, such as still pending resolution of the most painful problem of Azerbaijan – the Armenian-Azerbaijani, Nagorno Karabakh conflict, that remains as the biggest open question for Azerbaijan.

It is known that 20 percent of the Azerbaijani territory – Nagorno Karabakh and seven adjacent districts – are under occupation for more than 20 years. The ethnic cleansing policy was conducted in the territories of Azerbaijan occupied by Armenia. Over one million of people have become refugees and IDPs. Steps that were taken in over 20 years to solve the conflict do not yield any result. Despite four resolutions of UN Security Council related to the conflict resolution and the fair position taken by other international organizations and institutions, the situation did not change while the threat of war remains still. Unfortunately, representatives of co-chairing countries dealing with the conflict settlement have not obtained any progress so far. It does also have its reasons. I do personally think that the continuation of processes as it goes now fades our hopes for peaceful resolution of the conflict.

Due to the fact that co-chairing countries and their representatives deal directly with the conflict resolution, the discussion of this issue in other frameworks is made impossible. Additionally, the statements of co-chairs do not refer to the international law and 4 resolutions on the conflict of UN Security Council. Even, in the latest period of time, statements are often seen as differing from those issues indicated in previous format in the documents of various international organizations 5-6 years ago. This creates a concern with the course of discussions.

Reports of some organizations and governmental institutions allege the violation of democracy and human rights in Azerbaijan. However, nothing is being said about the violation of all rights of more, that one million of refugees and IDPs. Human rights and democracy are kept simply in the context of authorities and opposition. But, what about the rights of refugees and IDPs or do they not deserve the protection? The position voted in the European Parliament with the participation of 15-20 members is presented as the resolution of the Parliament with total number of 754 members. As a result, the right of absolute majority of members of the European Parliament is misused. This contradicts the principles of democracy. The statistics show that the number of critical reports about Azerbaijan appeared in the British press within 3 months in relation to the criminal actions of two young Azerbaijanis that present themselves as bloggers is more than the general number of articles written about the Karabakh problem in last 20 years.

Multiculturalism in Europe has already started to decline. However, Azerbaijan lives in the conditions of peace and tolerance of various religions. Azerbaijan has managed to build an ideal and tolerant society which can be exemplary for all world countries and even for Europe. This has been declared by the Pope of Rome John Paul II during his visit to Baku.

Taking into account all above mentioned – and, these factors must be taken into consideration – it is hard to accept the attitude of West to Azerbaijan as a fair, well thought and substantiated position from political, economic, cultural, religious, geopolitical and other points of view. There is no need to wait long for outcomes of such policy because it does not help at all to long term co-operation and relations.

Dear friends,

Choosing the pathway of close co-operation and integration with Europe since first years of its independence, the Republic of Azerbaijan has managed to implement large projects of strategic importance and become the political, economic, cultural, energy and transportation bridge between East and West by addressing all challenges and facing firmly strong pressure. However, we do aware, that as it goes with all countries, Azerbaijan has some minor problems. We take it normal to be criticized. Nevertheless, we think that the criticism should not be biased and unfair. A selective approach should not be applied to nations. Only a fair criticism can serve the co-operation and allow overcoming various threats and challenges.

As a conclusion, I would like to hope that such events, contacts and exchange of views will contribute to our mutual understanding and co-operation.

Thank you for your attention.