BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 15. Azerbaijan is
now de facto embarking on a new stage of development, a veteran,
honorary officer of Azerbaijan’s security bodies, Colonel Azer
Garayev told Trend.

He noted that Azerbaijan, which has entered a new period after
the presidential election, has outlined new objectives for the
coming years. President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev
made important statements at the inauguration ceremony on February
14 about the goals of Azerbaijan’s further development, the path of
successful development of the country, and other important issues.
President Ilham Aliyev won the presidential election, held for the
first time in the history of the country’s independence on the
entire territory of the country, with 92.12 percent of votes, and
this is one of the important components of the triumphant history
of modern Azerbaijan.

“Over the past 20 years, every page of the annals of
unprecedented creation in Azerbaijan has been quite extensive and
rich in chronicles of great achievements, from foreign policy and
international relations to economic and social spheres. “Iron Fist”
of the victorious Supreme Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev resolved
the main problem of Azerbaijan – the Karabakh problem. Last
September 20, within only one day of successful anti-terrorist
measures of local nature, the existence of the separatist regime in
Karabakh was put an end to. Thus, the Republic of Azerbaijan as an
independent state has achieved all its strategic objectives, and
adequately realized its tasks,” Garayev said.

He emphasized that the challenges put forward by this modern
stage of development conditioned the holding of extraordinary
presidential election.

“Ensuring sustainable development is an absolute priority of
President Ilham Aliyev’s state policy. Protection of national
interests of the Azerbaijani state is the basis for further
strengthening of our independence and ideological foundations,
civil solidarity. Irrespective of historical and political
conditions, the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev continues to
play a decisive role in the development of the national state,” he
said.

According to Garayev, President Ilham Aliyev outlined a map of
Azerbaijan’s future development in his speech at the inauguration
ceremony. Among the main goals are also the continuation of
building a strong army, development of military industry, and
successful completion of the steps started in this direction after
the II Karabakh War. Strengthening the security of Azerbaijan’s
borders is also necessary to protect Azerbaijan from external
risks.

“Ideological unity in Azerbaijan against the threats of the new
period, increasing the resistance of our society to external
ideological pressure is also extremely important. Nowadays, many
states are suffering from this very problem. It is important to
preserve our national spiritual values and educate the youth based
on these values. Azerbaijan will continue its efforts within the
framework of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) at a time when
polarization in the world is rapid. All OTS member countries have
brotherly relations and are united by close ties. We can already
see that economic and social ties are developing rapidly among
Turkic states. Even this factor is perceived with envy by some
forces that are trying to prevent the strengthening of Turkic
states, but Azerbaijan will continue its activities to strengthen
the OTS,” he said.

Garayev added that the past 20 years give grounds to say that
the new stage of Azerbaijan’s development will also be full of
successes.

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