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President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev gave an interview to Azerbaijani TV channels in Munich on February 13.
“Elchi” presents the interview.
REAL Television: Mr. President, thank you for taking the time to speak with us. What will be Azerbaijan’s message at this year’s Munich Security Conference?
President Ilham Aliyev: As always, our message is aimed at cooperation and peace. This is the first time that I am participating in this event as the head of state who has already achieved peace. Of course, this issue will probably be on the agenda here. Therefore, our messages, as always, are very clear – cooperation, peace, partnership. Of course, Azerbaijan’s growing role in the field of security, our capabilities, as well as economic development, energy security, transport, connections, artificial intelligence – that is, all these issues are on the world’s main agenda today. Therefore, Azerbaijan is not lagging behind in these areas.
Public Television: Mr. President, is the signing of a peace treaty between Azerbaijan and Armenia expected this year?
President Ilham Aliyev: You know, it does not depend on us. Our position has been conveyed to Armenia for many years. The necessary amendments must be made to the Constitution of Armenia. As soon as those changes are made, we can sign a peace treaty the next day. But despite this, I believe that peace has already been achieved between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The agreements at the Washington Summit, the signed Joint Declaration and the initialing of the peace treaty mean de facto peace. The formal side of this depends on Armenia. The sooner the constitution is amended and the territorial claim against Azerbaijan is removed from there, the sooner the peace treaty will be signed.
AnewZ Television: Mr. President, everyone we talk to today says that the old world order is collapsing and a new world is emerging, but it has not yet emerged. Just a few weeks ago, you signed the “Charter of the Peace Council” in Davos. Azerbaijan is a founding member of the organization. In a few days, there will be another meeting in Washington. What do you think about this organization as a potential element of the new world order?
President Ilham Aliyev: You know, if you remember, I talked about this, maybe not in detail, but in general, I said that international law is no longer reliable. Many countries simply ignored it. Relying only on international law will not solve your problem. The example of Azerbaijan really demonstrates this. Thus, the emergence of a new world order or a new system of intergovernmental relations was, of course, in the development stage. The question was who would take responsibility for taking the first step. I believe that President Trump did a great job by initiating the creation of an organization with a great future – the Peace Council.
Of course, everything will depend on the agenda. As you know, the first summit will take place soon. Everyone is interested to know what the agenda of the summit is and what the result will be. But more and more countries are realizing that they need to reconsider their approaches to intergovernmental relations, security, and the activities of international institutions. We see that the United Nations is completely paralyzed. It will not be able to influence any issue. There is no alternative either. We hope that we will see more common sense in joint activities. Because the new world order should not mean “whoever is stronger is right”. The new world order means the relations of the civilized world and new mechanisms of the international order.
CBC Television: Mr. President, according to the program of the Munich Security Conference, you are expected to participate in a panel session on transport corridors tomorrow. How does Azerbaijan see its role in the formation of transport corridors between Europe and Asia?
President Ilham Aliyev: We have been the initiator of the creation of corridors for a long time – starting with energy corridors, continuing with transport corridors, and now also covering electricity and fiber-optic corridors. Therefore, as our country’s potential strengthens and international relations develop, we add new elements to the existing connectivity concept.
If we can consider oil and gas pipelines as an already realized fact, although there is a need to expand our gas transportation infrastructure, if we take into account that issues related to railway connections have been partially resolved and that Azerbaijan does not face any particular difficulties in ensuring transit transportation or exporting its products, although the Zangezur corridor will make an additional contribution to this, then electric cables, fiber-optic cables, data centers and issues related to the transmission and transit of information as a result of the operation of artificial intelligence are the areas we are currently specifically engaged in.
We have many advantages: geography, close relations with neighbors in both the West and the East, surplus of electricity, trained personnel and many other advantages. Therefore, today Azerbaijan is a country needed in both the East and the West. Taking into account that Azerbaijan ensures its security and sovereignty with its own strength, of course, the international reputation of our country has further increased. Therefore, when we talk about corridors, of course, we should look at this issue more broadly: not only railways and only highways, but also all directions that ensure connectivity and meet the requirements of the modern world should be considered. Thank you.