An official opening ceremony of the First Global Forum on Youth Policies has been held in Baku.

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev attended the ceremony.

The head of state made a speech at the event.

Speech by President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev:

- Dear ladies and gentlemen,

First of all I would like to welcome all our guests to Azerbaijan. The First Global Forum on Youth Policies to be held in our country is a very important event for us. It is a big honor for us to host representatives of so many countries. I am sure that the time you will spend in our country will remain in your memory. We are proud to host the First Global Forum on Youth Policies. Off course, there will be many more forums. But this event will go down in history as the first forum. We thank the organizers for selecting Azerbaijan as the host country. And we consider this as recognition of the efforts of our government in sport policy, youth policy, in the policy related to active development of our country. Youth, sports, arts – these are all interconnected. Our country, our government attaches great importance to these sectors of our life.

One of the other important priorities for us is education. And we are proud that literacy is ensured to almost 100 percent in Azerbaijan. There is a solid legislation base related to youth policy. There is a law on youth policy. And two state programs on Azerbaijani youth have been adopted and successfully implemented. Relatively recently we created a youth fund. And the funds channeled from the state budget to that fund help young people to present themselves to the society. They work on different projects related to culture, education, social activity, political reforms. In other words, this fund helps the young generation to explore their own talents, to present themselves to the society and, thus, to contribute to the development of our country.

I mentioned education and literacy. I would also like to say that education, in general, is one of the main priorities for our government because we are absolutely sure that only educated people, people with knowledge in different areas can help the country and themselves to develop. And if you look at the performance and achievements of developed countries in the world you will see that education, science and technological innovations are the main instruments of successful development. Not energy resources, not mineral resources, not oil and gas, but only education, knowledge, technologies. This is the driving force for the whole mankind. And the whole mankind benefits from innovations, modern technologies. Therefore in Azerbaijan, education is one of the main priorities. And we think that with a close interaction with international educational centers we can achieve even more. Therefore for many years our government has been funding educational programs for our young generation in the leading universities of the world. This year close to 40 million euros has been spent to train our young people abroad. At the same time in order to increase the level of education in Azerbaijan we invest in this area. We also want to have wider international communication between our universities and the leading universities of the world.

And we see the benefits of this policy because today the young generation of Azerbaijan is actively participating in the creation of new, modern independent country.

One of the priorities for our government is the development of sport. And here we also have good achievements. Our sportsmen represent Azerbaijan with dignity at international competitions, world, European championships, Olympic Games. The last Olympic Games were historic for us because in London in 2012 Azerbaijan got the highest result in the history of our participation at Summer Olympics. Our team was number 30 among almost 200 countries. Youth Olympic Games were also remarkable for Azerbaijan as among almost 200 countries our team was number 10. This shows that the policy of the development of Olympic movement, sport, creation of modern sports facilities brings the results. At the same time sport became an integral part of the life of our society. State programs of stimulation and active involvement of the young generation in sport activities is not only important for the prestige of the country at international competitions, but it also shows the young generation the way to success. It shows that physical health is something that will help them throughout their life. And that also helps to stay away from bad habits, alcohol, tobacco, drugs, etc.

Therefore it is an important social segment of our policy. We are also proud that Azerbaijan has hosted numerous European and world championships. Next year we will host the first European Games in Azerbaijan, which will also be a historic event for us. European Games have never been held before unlike Pan-American, Asian, African Games. They will be held here for the first time, and we will have more than 6,000 athletes. We are planning to hold these Games at the level of Summer Olympic Games.

In 2016, we will hold World Chess Olympiad. We are also proud of the achievements of our national chess team. By the way all the members of the team are representatives of the young generation. They were European champions. In 2017, we will have Islamic Solidarity Games. So you see that in a short period of time we will have European Games and Islamic Games. Actually this very clearly shows the role of Azerbaijan in international affairs.

We are one of the very few countries that are members of the Council of Europe, where we now chair the Committee of Ministers, and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. We initiated the Baku process, which started in 2008 when here in Azerbaijan, at the meeting of the ministers of culture of the member states of the Council of Europe we invited their colleagues from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation for the first time. We had a session of more than hundred countries representing Europe and the Muslim world. That event then had a continuation – we had similar events in the next years. Therefore these efforts also lead to bigger understanding between civilizations, peoples and countries.

One of the main achievements of Azerbaijan is that we have a unique atmosphere of cultural diversity, ethnic and religious tolerance. Azerbaijan is a multinational, multiconfessional country. All our citizens live in peace and dignity. And we contribute to the dialogue of civilizations. We hosted two international forums on the dialogue of cultures. Four times we hosted Baku international humanitarian forum where we address mainly the issues related to cultural diversity, multiculturalism and how people from different parts of the world can work together, cooperate and be in interaction. One of the big threats, and we all know about that, today is some alienation between civilizations. We in Azerbaijan, take into account our history, traditions, our geographical location and membership of European and Muslim organizations. We try to contribute to the cause of cooperation, greater understanding, bigger support. I think this will bring good results. Today here in Baku we have representatives from all over the world. And you, the young generation, are representatives of an active segment of your societies. You have a great future in your countries. Therefore knowing each other, acting together, understanding the problems of each other and trying to help each other, I think, is very important. So I hope that the first global forum also will be very important from this point of view.

Our young generation is actively involved in the issue related to innovation. The young generation is very creative, very dynamic. And taking into account that Azerbaijan is developing very rapidly also in the areas of information, communication, technologies. We already have the first satellite. We are a country with space industry. Therefore information technologies are developing very rapidly, and our generation is the driving force here. Less than two years ago we introduced the new system of public services, which is called ASAN. This means “easy” in English. This is a one-stop shop. There are close to 30 public services, and the absolute majority of employees and volunteers in ASAN system are representatives of our young generation. Therefore today in many areas of business activity we have young managers, who are well-trained, educated, patriotic, closely committed to the development of Azerbaijan. In the coming years, I am sure, this trend will be even stronger. So these are the main areas which are important for us. Azerbaijan is a young country from the point of view of independence – we are only 23 years old. We also have a young, very dynamic, very active population. With active state policy to engage our young generation in every sector of our economic and political life, I think, we have a good momentum now. With respect to the issues related to security, we rely mainly on the young generation. It is our young Azerbaijanis who are protecting our borders, who at this moment stand in trenches face-to-face to Armenian aggressors to protect their motherland. Most of our victims during the Armenian aggression were representatives of the young generation. This is the biggest threat to regional security. Unfortunately, in the end of 1980s-the beginning of the 1990s of the last century Azerbaijan became a subject of violent Armenian aggression, ethnic cleansing, occupation of our historical lands. Nagorno-Karabakh is a historical part of Azerbaijan. For centuries Azerbaijanis lived in that area. Aggressive separatism backed by Armenia led to this situation. Almost 20 percent of internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan has been under occupation of Armenia for more than 20 years. One million people became refugees and internally displaced persons as a result of this aggression. The policy of ethnic cleansing was implemented against Azerbaijanis. Khojaly genocide was committed by Armenians, and more than 600 innocent people, including more than 100 women and more than 60 children, were killed only because they were Azerbaijanis.

Today the Armenian dictatorship, the criminal regime in Armenia is the biggest threat to international and regional security and stability. All the international organizations support our position. The United Nations Security Council adopted four resolutions demanding unconditional and immediate withdrawal of the Armenian troops from the Azerbaijani territories. These resolutions remain on paper, they have not been implemented for more than 20 years. OSCE adopted similar decisions. The European Parliament, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Non-Alignment Movement and others – they fully support our position and respect territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. All the countries of the world respect territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. But from a practical point of view it has not yet led to the resolution of the conflict. The resolution of the conflict must be based on the decisions and resolutions of international organizations, particularly the UN Security Council resolutions because the UN Security Council resolutions must be implemented. We see that in some cases they are implemented within days. But in our case, they still remain on paper for more than 20 years.

We must be stronger, we must be more efficient, we must work harder to have resolution of the conflict based on international law norms and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. I`m sure that the day will come and we will return to our native lands – Nagorno-Karabakh and other occupied territories. We have strong support of the international community not only with respect to this issue, but in general. And the best indicator to that was the election of Azerbaijan as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. We were a member of the Security Council for two years – 2012-2013. We were elected with the support of the absolute majority of the international community – 155 countries voted for Azerbaijan. It was particularly important for us because only for 20 years of independence Azerbaijan became a member of the international community, and we managed to get such a strong support from 155 countries. Not only because of our active diplomacy and international efforts, but because Azerbaijan is already known as a reliable partner, as a country with independent foreign policy, a country with its own position with respect to regional or international problems. And we defend our position. We dot not only express it, we defend it and try to prove that our position is based on this and that reasons, historical events and our knowledge about the region. Therefore, I think, we are considered a reliable partner thanks to this policy. Only twenty years after restoring independence we got support of such a big number of countries in the world. This also is a big responsibility.

During the two years of membership of the Security Council we defended – as we proclaimed from the very beginning – justice and international law. So if these two elements become the main priority for every country I am sure there will be much less tension, clashes, wars and bloodshed. International law must be for everyone. It must not be selective. Justice must be for everyone. We are all members of the international community, and all the countries of the international community have the same rights, same obligations. All of them must be treated with respect and dignity. And then the world will become more predictable.

Unfortunately what we see today in the regions surrounding Azerbaijan - in the Middle East, Europe, other parts of the world - is very difficult developments, and sometimes very tragic outcomes of these developments. Therefore, the world must be united in combating terrorism and defending international law and justice.

In the region where we are situated we play an important role with respect to international security, stability. Azerbaijan, actually, is kind of an island of stability, development, predictability in the region. And we are playing our role as a stabilizing force, stabilizing factor in the region because though regional cooperation, through economic initiatives, initiatives related to energy and transportation we can achieve a lot. Our policy has always been very clear – through regional cooperation and mutual support towards national interests, including economic interests, security and stability. Of course, every country is trying to have maximum level of security and stability inside the country because this is the main prerequisite for development. If you don`t have stability and security, you will not have investment. And without investment today even developed countries of the world cannot successfully go forward. At the same time every country must be interested in security and stability beyond its borders. You are not living on an island. You have neighbours. Therefore, we are interested in having predictable and stable situation beyond our borders and inside Azerbaijan. This is how we look at the issues related to regional security and regional cooperation.

The economic, energy and transportation initiatives, which we launched, are to the benefit of all the participants. Only in a win-win situation you can achieve maximum results. Here in Azerbaijan, we launched important multinational, transcontinental transportation projects, projects related to energy security, energy diversification. All the countries which are part of these initiatives are getting benefits from that. And this makes the cooperation sustainable, predictable and beneficial. Therefore this part of our activity, of course, is based on a solid economic background. This is the main driving force for the development.

When we became independent our economy was in total devastation. Political and military crisis, Armenian occupation, civil war and total collapse of economy – that was the picture in the beginning of the 1990s. But thanks to consistent efforts political stability, political reforms, democratic reforms were ensured, modern democratic institutions were created, free media was ensured. Today, for instance, we have free Internet, and more than 70 percent of our population are Internet users. Other political freedoms, the rule of law, economic development and reforms laid the basis of successful development. Without political reforms and freedoms you cannot achieve a sustainable success. You can achieve success for a certain period of time, but to have a sustainable success you must ensure fundamental freedoms for the people because everybody is born free and must live free in a free society with security and with the protection of all fundamental rights.

Therefore, political reforms were backed by economic reforms. Without economic reforms political reforms are very difficult to be implemented. The creation of self-sufficient, strong economy was our target. That created confidence, economic independence and political independence. It is difficult to have political independence and to conduct an independent policy without an economic background. Those countries, which do not yet have self-sufficient economy, which depend on other countries, are, to a certain degree, dependant in the political area too. So every country should take care, first of all, of economic independence, and then you will feel yourselves free, you will free yourselves confident, strong. Then you can make your own judgment. And this judgment again must be based on justice and international law.

Economic reforms, which we still continue in Azerbaijan, are reflected in figures. In the last ten years Azerbaijan`s economy has been the fastest growing economy in the world. One of the biggest achievements for us was not only that our economy tripled in the last years, but that we reduced poverty and unemployment to the level of 5 percent. This also is a factor, which helps the young generation most of all because we are a country with big labour resources and good demographic situation. Therefore the creation of jobs must be a permanent process. We managed to create 1.3 million jobs in the last 10 years. Employment, as a social disease, already does not exist in Azerbaijan. We have a very low rate of foreign debt with respect to GDP. It is only 8 percent. Therefore we can absorb more financial resources, but we are trying not to exceed this figure because the foreign debt to GDP is one of the main elements of economic stability. We also know that the countries which constantly borrowed one day had to pay a high price.

For that here we come to the responsibility of politicians. I see a lot of prominent future politicians here. You will have high positions in your countries. Therefore political responsibility of political figures and responsibility for economy is also a very important issue. We know that sometimes due to certain election campaigns, political situation in some countries people give a lot of promises that they will fix that, increase salaries and pensions, create heaven. And when people believe in those words and elect these politicians then they have to deliver. But they cannot because there are economic restrictions, economic rules. And what they do? They borrow from international financial institutions, they borrow from some countries. And this is like a pyramid. They borrow, borrow and borrow, and one day it collapses. And who suffers? Again the people. The people, who were misled by these populist speeches, suffer because they have to cut salaries, pensions, jobs, etc. Therefore economic position of every country must be based on real situation. How to implement reforms? It is not difficult to do. How to attract investments? You need to have a good business climate, stable political situation and predictable future. Then investors will come. Now it is very difficult to invite investor to invest because of what is happening on the global markets and ongoing financial crisis. We have some experience in that area. Today our economy is sustainable, diversified, and is moving smoothly. And sustainable development was our main objective.

You will have sessions and discussions. I`d like to say it is really a big honor for us to host our guests here. I think the forum will be important not only from the point of view of discussions. You will also have an opportunity to know more about Azerbaijan and know better our country. I hope you will have these days in your memories. Azerbaijan is a young, independent, dynamic, modern country, which clearly identified its priorities and targets. With such a great potential as Azerbaijani youth, which is the driving force for our success, we will achieve even more in the future. I`d like to thank you for being with us at this forum. I wish you all the best, success.

Thank you very much.