'Russia' TV Channel dedicates Dmitry Kiselev's 'Vesti Nedeli' [‘News of the Week’] program to the Independence Day of Azerbaijan.
"Azerbaijan celebrated its 25th anniversary on October 18. It did not hold a military parade, and the country's achievements are not designed for public effect," the program says.
The program goes on to say that more than 100 thousand Azerbaijani citizens are receiving education in Russian language. Russian language and literature are taught in many schools from the first to tenth grades.
Azerbaijan Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev gave an interview for Sputnik agency, allowing to use it in the 'Vesti Nedeli' show.
The head of state said that "today it is an independent and self-sufficient state, which relies on its national roots, while still being secular, multi-ethnic, multi-confessional, successfully developing state. It relies only on its own strength, has good and friendly relations with its neighbors. It is a reliable and worthy member of the international community".
"I can tell a lot about our economic achievements," Ilham Aliyev noted. "According to the latest report of the World Economic Forum in Davos, the Azerbaijani economy is thirty seventh in the world by its competitiveness. It is first among the CIS countries and it is pretty high among all countries of the world. So we have a lot of opportunities, we confidently move forward, and I'm confident that the next 25 years will also become the years of rapid development. Over the past thirteen years we were able to triple the GDP, and to reduce poverty from 49% in 2003 to 5% this year. In fact, there is no poverty as a social phenomenon anymore. The same is true for unemployment, which amounts 5%, we have large foreign exchange reserves - we accumulate them, even this year, despite the fall in the oil prices, our foreign exchange reserves of the Oil Fund increase, because we spend sparingly and сash not on oil anymore," the President said.
The program goes on to say that more than 100 thousand Azerbaijani citizens are receiving education in Russian language. Russian language and literature are taught in many schools from the first to tenth grades.
In addition, it talks about the country's role in the large-scale transport corridor of more than 7 thousand km long, which will connect St. Petersburg and Mumbai. The main part of the route will pass from Russia through the western coast of the Caspian Sea to Iran through Azerbaijan.
"This is one of the priorities for our road, which will connect Russia and Iran as well as India and the countries of the Persian Gulf," the Deputy Chairman of JSC 'Azerbaijan Railways' Igbal Huseynov said.
The Russian TV channel's program notes that Azerbaijan has become a leader in high technologies in the South Caucasus. As an example, it mentioned ASAN xidmət centers, which include more than 250 types of services in one place.
The program recalls that in recent years Azerbaijan has become a venue of many international sports and social forums. In 2012, Baku hosted the Eurovision contest and three years later the country hosted the First European Games. Now Azerbaijan is preparing for the Islamic Games, which it plans to hold at the same high level as the Formula 1 Grand Prix last summer.
"Today we see a large number of tourists. Recently, during the Chess Olympiad, we have obtained data that 95% of the hotels are filled. This has never happened in our history," the Azerbaijani Minister of Youth and Sports Azad Rahimov said.
Tourism is another major direction for the country. Many Russian tourists visit Azerbaijan. They will definitely see a place where the 'The Diamond Arm' [popular Soviet comedy] adventure of Semen Gorbunkov began, as well as labyrinths of the Old Town.
