Vestnik Kavkaza spoke with Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor at MGIMO Stanislav Chernyavsky about the state in which Azerbaijan is entering a new era and what prospects are opening up for the republic.
- Stanislav Ivanovich, in your opinion, what has Azerbaijan achieved in the 21st century?
- First of all, Azerbaijan has become an unshakably independent state. The society was consolidated in Azerbaijan, the idea of Azerbaijanism and the Azerbaijani nation’ strengthening emerged. This is the most important achievement of the republic.
If we are talking about the state structure, then I believe that we can talk about Azerbaijan as a democratic country without any exaggeration. This is a real legal state, created with great difficulty. Over the past years, it has built a modern democratic system of government in compliance with the rules for the transfer of power during elections. Elections in Azerbaijan are held at a very high level.
With regard to recent events, the Azerbaijani people have achieved important successes in resolving the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. The occupied territories were liberated and returned to the control of Azerbaijan. I believe that President Ilham Aliyev has made a huge contribution to this by keeping his word not only to his father, Heydar Aliyev, but also to the entire Azerbaijani people. Therefore, if I were an Azerbaijani, then on February 7 I would go to vote for Ilham Aliyev in the presidential elections as a liberator of the nation and the president who leads the nation to numerous victories
- What helped Azerbaijan to achieve these results?
- The purposeful policy of the Azerbaijani leadership, starting with the reforms carried out by Heydar Aliyevich upon his return to power, and continuing with the consistent planned work that has been taking place for 20 years under Ilham Aliyev.
In general, the role of the top leadership in the history of the Republic of Azerbaijan cannot be overestimated. It is huge. In the 1990s, Heydar Aliyev did not allow the oil industry of Azerbaijan to be plundered and created a state institution that assumed the function of a single manager of the oil wealth of the republic. Under Ilham, the works on the development of the country and the construction works there has been done purposefully. What is more, several development plans aimed not only at Baku but also at all regions have been adopted, including a 20-year plan.
We also see constant internal and external monitoring of state activities done by the leadership of Azerbaijan. This always has special significance for any country.
- What tasks does Azerbaijan face after the closure of the "Karabakh issue"?
- The main task of the modern times - and it is already being implemented - is the development of the liberated territories and ensuring the well-being of the population, which is returning to these areas.
The national reconciliation between those Armenians who remain in the Karabakh economic region and former IDPs returning to their cities and villages may not be the most important, but it is still a pressing issue. I think that this task is also very important.
