A ceremony held in Paris on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of restoration of state independence of the Republic of Azerbaijan
Solemn ceremony took place in Paris dedicated to the 20th anniversary of restoration of independence of the Republic of Azerbaijan and presentation of ‘Azerbaijan’ book, February 17.
First Lady of Azerbaijan, President of Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mrs Mehriban Aliyeva attended the event organized under the initiative and support of Heydar Aliyev Foundation and Embassy of Azerbaijan to France.
First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva addressed the ceremony.
Speech by Mehriban Aliyeva:
- Ladies and gentlemen!
Dear guests, dear Mr Minister!
First of all, I express my deep gratitude to You, Mr Minister, for the friendly attitude to our country, for having such a comprehensive idea of our culture and supporting that, for the high value set to my activity.
Dear guests, I sincerely greet you all and thank for being with us today. This year, Azerbaijan celebrates the 20th jubilee of the restoration of its independence and I am much delighted that the first event on this occasion is held in France. I have great honor to introduce my country – Azerbaijan in Paris, one of the most magnificent, beautiful and stylish cities of the world.
As an independent country Azerbaijan is too young, however, this country, which is called the Land of Fires, has an ancient history. The first states here in South Caucasus, on the coast of Caspian Sea existed in 2-1 millenniums B.C. historical Silk Road crosses the territory of our country. Fights were waged for centuries for Azerbaijan located at the junction of civilizations and cultures. Though Azerbaijan was part of different empires in different times, our nation managed to protect its history, language, religion, culture and national identity.
Our way to the independence was not easy and smooth. In this path, we had a lot of losses, pains, sorrows. The People’s Republic of Azerbaijan established in 1918 was the first democratic parliamentary republic in the East. At the time, Azerbaijan became a real lighthouse for the whole Muslim East. The first secular school was opened for Muslim girls, Azerbaijani women were entitled to franchise, the first opera and ballet in the East was composed. Unfortunately, the People’s Republic existed 23 months only. The Republic faced quite serious geopolitical problems and factors. The increasing interest in Baku oil was one of the significant factors. As a result, our country lost the independence and the soviet power was created in Azerbaijan through military intervention. During over 70 years our people existed under severe conditions of the soviet regime. But in those years Azerbaijan’s economic potential was formed, illiteracy was completely annulled, education network was created, universities were opened, the National Academy of Sciences was set up. All those years the people of Azerbaijan dreamt of independence. Lastly in 1991 the people of Azerbaijan became the owner of its fate and land. Of course, 20 years is not a big historical period, but for this short time Azerbaijan obtained huge achievements.
Today, Azerbaijan is the most rapidly developing country in the region. Azerbaijan provides 75% of total economy of South Caucasus states. Azerbaijan is recognized by EU as a strategic partner in energy security and Azerbaijan is ready to play its role in Europe’s oil and gas supply. Our country’s oil-gas pipelines, rise in non-oil sector, new huge infrastructure projects guarantee our development.
The social policy is conducted today in Azerbaijan. More than 900.000 new workplaces have been opened in our country since 2003, over 2000 new schools built, poverty dropped from 49% to 9%. The new look of our capital and other towns, ultramodern buildings, roads, bridges, restored and newly constructed museums and parks point to our development.
Tourism is intensively developing in Azerbaijan. Only this year 5 new 5-star hotels are to be opened in the capital and this shows the yearly increasing interest in our country. Of course, our cultural heritage is the major wealth to us, Azerbaijan’s ancient carpet-weaving school, unique miniatures, literature and poetry, music, dances, fine art, architectural monuments.
Dear guests, I would like to emphasize that our country has gained all these achievements in the existence of the prolonged problem like Daghlig Garabagh that has not been resolved yet. We are sure that a day will come and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan will be restored, every IDP and every refugee will return to its native land. Our every achievement bases on the intellect, knowledge, skill, talent and labor of Azerbaijani citizen. We are in the beginning of the big way. As an independent and secular state, keeping devotion to our history and origins, protecting our culture and traditions, we are integrating into the global values, liberty, democracy, publicity and world community. Today, Azerbaijan marks the jubilee of its independence in the country like France, the home to ancient culture and history and modern democracy.
Dear friends, I once again express my gratitude to you for the friendly attitude to our country. Taking the opportunity, I invite you to Azerbaijan. I believe such meetings connect France and Azerbaijan with cordial ties.
I wish you peace, happiness and love. Thank you so much for the attention.