Ilham Aliyev summarizes preliminary results of year

The ceremony dedicated to sporting results of 2018 was held at Azerbaijan National Olympic Committee in Baku yesterday. Speaking at the ceremony, the president of Azerbaijan, president of the National Olympic Committee Ilham Aliyev said that the country has achieved significant aims this year, including in sport.

However, Ilham Aliyev began his speech from politics, saying that a regular meeting of the top military leadership of Russia and NATO was recently held in Baku: "Azerbaijan regularly hosts meetings of NATO and Russia military leadership. This is a very significant event. There are about 200 UN members, but this meeting is held in Azerbaijan. There are about 50 countries in Europe, but this meeting is held in Azerbaijan. Why? There are several reasons. First of all, confidence in us. Azerbaijan is a very reliable partner, our words and our deeds are consistent, we fulfill our promises and stand by our words. On the other hand, respect for us. Our policy has earned us tremendous respect, Azerbaijan is treated with great sympathy. By conducting an independent policy, we were able to establish ourselves as an independent country in the true sense of the word. I believe it is the second reason. The third reason is that we have close ties with both Russia and NATO. Our ties of strategic partnership with Russia strengthen every day. We work with NATO on the basis of numerous programs, we provide great support, assistance to Afghanistan in conducting peacekeeping operations, other factors have played a role here as well. However, I want to once again draw the attention of the Azerbaijani public to this issue: it is in Azerbaijan that this meeting of great importance for the world takes place."

The President of Azerbaijan also said that many important infrastructure projects were successfully implemented, historical successes in the transport and oil and gas sectors were achieved in 2018.

Ilham Aliyev also touched upon the situation in neighboring Armenia: "Very serious changes took place in Armenia this year. The regime of the criminal junta, which has been illegally usurping power for twenty years, fell, and today the Armenian people confirms what we said. The criminal, bribery regime has been exploiting its people for 20 years, and the sad end of this regime is quite logical. I must also say that our consistent, purposeful policy played a role in the fall of the criminal junta's regime. Because our policy remains unchanged. As long as our lands are occupied, we, using all possibilities, will keep Armenia in isolation, and we have achieved this. Global energy and transport projects implemented by our initiative bypass Armenia. As a result of our policy, Armenia is experiencing a demographic crisis, people leave the country on a mass scale, there is no basis for economic development there, there are no foreign investments, its access to international markets has become much more complicated. We were able to prove in the international arena that we work for a just cause in the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. That is, all these and other factors, our military might put Armenia in such a difficult position. Liberating parts of our occupied territories from invaders two years ago, raising the Azerbaijani flag there was a crushing blow to the criminal regime. Since that time, this country's already fragile foundations have become even more shaky and broke down. These are the events that happened next door to us. Of course, I think that today there is a more favorable situation for the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Because of many factors. First of all, our growing strength and potential, our economic, military, political power, international positions. We will continue our consistent policy in this direction."

The Azerbaijani President recalled that international organizations adopted numerous resolutions reflecting Baku’s position on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict: "In bilateral agreements, this issue reflects our position. The signing of the document on partnership priorities with the European Union has become a very significant event. This document expresses support for the territorial integrity, sovereignty, inviolability of the Azerbaijani borders. The NATO summit reflected a very important issue regarding our territorial integrity. Our position is constantly reflected in the signed bilateral documents. This is what I mean by saying that our international authority is growing. At the same time, the Azerbaijani people are well aware that our position prevails even in those organizations, which have Armenia as a member, but we are not part of them, and this make Armenia hysterical."

Turning to achievements in sport, Ilham Aliyev said that this year Azerbaijani athletes won about 800 medals at the world championships, Europe and other international competitions, including 263 gold ones: "Each such grand victory enhances the patriotic spirit of our society, represents Azerbaijan as a strong sporting country on the international arena, propagandizes it. These victories make young people to join sports clubs, ensure greater participation in sports activities. That is, sports victories, successes of our athletes make a very big sense. We won 18 medals at the Rio Olympics. These medals were won by young people, which were juniors five or six years ago ... Great success was achieved in creating a sports infrastructure. 44 Olympic sports centers were built in the districts alone. One Olympic sports center was built this year, and three more centers are expected to be built next year. Thus, their number will reach 47."

Holding international sports competitions in Azerbaijan has become a tradition. "The European Games, the Islamic Solidarity Games were held here. This year the World and European Championships took place in our country. Formula 1 Grand Prix race has been held in Azerbaijan, Baku for three years in a row," the president said.

He also noted that the influx of tourists to Azerbaijan is growing: "The number of tourists increased by 22% in 2016, by 20% in 2017, and by more than 6% for 11 months of the current year. The increase is somewhat lower compared with the previous years, but the base is growing. That is, achieving such high growth will become more difficult with each passing year."

Ilham Aliyev also noted that Azerbaijan’s success in sports is highly appreciated by international sports structures: “Both the International Olympic Committee and the European Olympic Committee highly value our activities. Next year, the European Youth Olympic Festival will be held in Baku. This is  a type of the Junior European Games. We are seriously preparing for these competitions. The accumulated experience suggests that these competitions will be held at a high level. The UEFA Europa League Final will be held in Baku for the first time next year. Holding it in Baku is not a simple issue. Many cities are fighting for it. The overall development of our country, the existing infrastructure, sports facilities, the remarkable Olympic Stadium, great hotels, security, the hospitality of our people, and other factors played the role in reaching this decision.