International conference on “South Caucasus: Development and Cooperation” was held at ADA University-VIDEO-UPDATED-1

International conference on “South Caucasus: Development and Cooperation” was held at ADA University-VIDEO -UPDATED-1
# 30 April 2022 03:31 (UTC +04:00)

An international conference under the motto “South Caucasus: Development and Cooperation” has been held at ADA University, APA reports.

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

Rector of ADA University, Ambassador Hafiz Pashayev said: Your Excellency Mr. President. It is our great honor and immense pleasure to welcome Your Excellency at our annual international conference. It also gives me pleasure to welcome 40 participants of the conference, who traveled to Azerbaijan from 23 countries. Last year during our first forum which was devoted to the great victory, and the liberation of the Azerbaijani lands, you Mr. President have kindly supported proposal of professor Ahmad Uysal to make it annual event and invite international experts and think tank representatives to discuss regional peace, security and development. You instructed us to do it and we are glad that this year we are able to fulfill this task under the new brand name- Shusha International Forum. Yesterday, our foreign participants traveled to jewel of Azerbaijani culture-city of Shusha. On the way they were able to get to know some important reconstruction and development projects in the liberated Karabakh, including airport in Fuzuli and a new road-Zafar Yolu. This is the road along which our brave soldiers went and liberated city of Shusha. Our guests on their way were also able to see some part of barbarian destructions which have been left after Armenian occupation. Now, this is important goal of our nation, and well articulated personal mission of the President Ilham Aliyev to turn Karabakh into the most prosperous and peaceful region of the world. I believe, our participants came back from Shusha full of joy and impressions. History of Karabakh, consequences of liberation war, regional integration, security, and challenges to the development issues, these are some topics which are under forum’s discussion. We hope that the messages and points coming from panel discussions will spread all over the world through articles, social media networks. During the Shusha session, a number of speakers made some suggestions and recommendations which I guess, participants might raise up today to get your, Mr. President, reaction. On behalf of all participants, I would like to extend our sincere gratitude to you, Mr. President, for your strong support to this forum and for your visionary leadership in building sustainable peace in the region. Mr. President, taking this opportunity, I want also to thank you for support you always extend to ADA university. Now, giving floor to Your Excellency, we look forward and are delighted to hear your introductory remarks. Thank you.

President Ilham Aliyev said: Thank you very much. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, dear guests. First of all, I would like to express gratitude to ADA University for hosting this event. It’s already a tradition. We met last April here and discussed broad range of issues related to post-conflict situation. Of course, having these traditional meetings is very important for us, I think for international community to understand better our plans, our intentions and to look what has been done. I am glad that ADA University took this very important initiative. As you know, this is one of the leading universities in Azerbaijan with already very high-level of education, very good international contacts and also a university which is growing. Relatively recently, a new international partnership format on education was established and soon, I am sure the Italian-Azerbaijani University here under the ADA umbrella will open its doors for students. I would like to express gratitude to all the participants, to our guests, for visiting us and for travelling to Shusha. I am sure it was an interesting journey, to see the beauty of Karabakh, and at the same time, the devastations on route to Shusha and in Shusha also. Well, what you’ve seen is I think, the best illustration of what we had to experience during the 30 years of occupation. These mass destructions and devastations was not a result of the first Karabakh war, that was a result of barbarism and vandalism committed by Armenia throughout the 30 years of occupation. So, all our villages, most of our cities have been destroyed, knocked to the ground. In some regions like Kalbajar, Lachin, and partly Zangilan, and Shusha, there have been illegal settlement programs officially sponsored by Armenian government which is a brutal violation of international conventions. You have been informed about our plans to rebuild Karabakh and Eastern Zangazur. The plans really are large-scale and we are implementing with our own resources allocating the financial resources of our budget and with the support of international companies. But apart from that, the last year since we have met and discussed last April, one of the important tasks in front of us was to strengthen the new realities and to work with leading international organizations to present our case, to present our vision for the region and also it was very important that the international community, the leading international organizations accept the new realities on the ground, and it happened. And also in the meantime, we’ve been actively advocating for the new era in the Caucasus, era of peace and cooperation. And finally, we got a positive response from Armenia just recently, and their government accepted five basic principles which Azerbaijan put forward, the principles which should be a foundation for peace agreement with Armenia. At the same time, also, based on Azerbaijani proposal Armenia agreed finally to establish joint working groups with Azerbaijan to start process of delimitation of our border. I think these are important signs of recent development and also it shows that now after a year and a half passed since the second Karabakh war, Armenian leadership and I hope population understands necessity of peace. And if peace agreement is signed and those basic principles are known, then, the peace in the Caucasus will be long-lasting and sustainable. This is what we want, and I think that what we demonstrate and what we announce is a clear example of our will to contribute to the peace in the Caucasus. We are rebuilding Karabakh, we are mobilizing our resources to strengthen our economy because without that it will be not very easy to allocate substantial funds. At the same time, we advocate for peace agenda in the Caucasus, and I think on all the tracks, initiative is in our hands. This initiative serves and should serve the cause of peace. So, probably, I would conclude my introductory remarks here and maybe leave more time for our discussions. Once again, thank you for being with us and I am sure that this traditional format of gathering will continue maybe as one of the ideas I heard from Hafiz Pashayev that there will be some proposals from the participants. I just want to add to that saying that maybe there could be also some time of interaction in-between the Shusha international fora which will take place regularly. Maybe we can think about some other forms of meetings and conferences in- between maybe in other cities, in Aghdam, Zangilan, in other cities which have been liberated. So, to make I think, our interaction more efficient, because for us importance is that international community knows what have happened, knows the full truth about the years of occupation and knows about our plans and intentions to build peace. For that reason, I think there should be a permanent line of contact between participants and those members of expert society who didn’t manage to be with us today. So, that’s my proposal for maybe the next round of working program but of course, all the proposals which will be represented by you will be very carefully addressed. So, once again, thank you and wish you a pleasant stay in Azerbaijan.

Rector Hafiz Pashayev: If you allow me, I have to add to what I have said already about the visit to Shusha. There is already one proposal to make next one in Lachin.

President Ilham Aliyev: Agreed.

In Lachin, you know, we are now in the phase of construction of international airport, and in Zangilan the airport will open this year. In Lachin, probably in 2024 but we will find the way to get there in an easier and comfortable way.

Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan, Head of Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration, Hikmat Hajiyev: Thank you, Mr. President. And with your permission we can start our question and answer session. Quite substantial number of our participants have subscribed for the questions. And I would like to start our first question with your permission with Mr. Svante Cornell. I will ask just our participants, please present the country that you are presenting an institution that you have come from. Thank you.

Svante Cornel, Director of Institute for Security and Development Policy, Sweden

Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. President for the invitation to this conference. It's an honor to be here. And it was particularly an honor to see the liberated Shusha for the first time. I am Svante Cornell with Central Asia Caucasus Institute in Washington and the Institute for Security and Development Policy in Sweden. My question follows up on your point about an era of peace. We understand especially I think, after seeing Shusha you know, studying something for 25-30 years is one thing, seeing it with your own eyes is very different. And we understand the difficulty of looking forward in view of the devastation that was imposed on these lands. But for an era of peace, my question to you regards whether you believe in the need for developing institutions to support on a regional level, a new era for the Caucasus. My perspective is that the liberation of Karabakh could be a changing point for the whole region, providing a historic opportunity to reverse the processes of division and conflict that really started with the separatism that led to the occupation of Karabakh in the late 1980s, and replaced this with a different process, a different era but not only in Karabakh, but in the broader Caucasus the process of cooperation and development that is truly regional. For this to develop it seems to me institutions would be needed and Azerbaijan is the only country that has the credibility and the resources to lead a process of creation of such institutions. Do you see the possibility of yourself taking the lead in creating regional institutions for the South Caucasus particularly financial ones, such as regional development funds and the like? Thank you.

President Ilham Aliyev: Yes, it’s a very interesting issue which you touched upon. We need to consult with the expert society and also in the government what kind of a regional financial package we can put forward but of course, it’s obvious that for the time-being our main concentration is how to rebuild Karabakh and how to return the former refugees as soon as possible. At the same time, our peace agenda and initiatives which have been publicly articulated and were supported by international community is aimed at regional development, new opportunities for regional development in the South Caucasus. Not only between Azerbaijan and Armenia, of course, this is one of the most important element of regional cooperation, but in the Southern Caucasus in general. We lost this opportunity for thirty years because of separatism, because of Armenian aggression, and the South Caucasus was not integrated. Yes, there is a very close cooperation between Azerbaijan and Georgia, which on bilateral level and on international level already presents its importance. At the same time, I think that there should be also understanding in Armenia that they cannot continue to live like an isolated island in this region. They need to normalize relations with us, they need to put down territorial claims to Azerbaijan and to Turkey and not to be hesitant in any kind of interaction on trilateral level in the South Caucasus. Why am I saying that? Because there have been already several times proposals from Azerbaijan supported by leading international organizations to organize trilateral meetings on different levels. We suggested on the levels of foreign ministers. Armenia refused. Then, there was a suggestion to have this meeting on the level of experts, again Armenia refused. Then we suggested to have this meeting on the level of representatives of civil society, and again Armenia refused. This is known by our partners and we do not understand why. Because we think it is counter-productive if we looked to the future of South Caucasus as integrated area of security, cooperation, and shared prosperity then this policy of Armenia is beyond any logic. Probably, they need some time, probably, they need to evaluate risks which they think may occur from that. But I think it’s inevitable, and we are ready and our Georgian colleagues are ready. So, I think that could be a first step and with respect to financial package for the region you know how Azerbaijan and Georgia have integrated taking into account the energy and transportation routes you are a good expert on that. And I think there are also opportunity to invite Armenia to be a part of regional development and they will benefit from that. They will benefit from getting access to our energy resources. They can be to a certain degree a part of the international transportation corridors. So that in itself will generate additional wealth. And also, normalizing relations with Azerbaijan will open such opportunities for Armenia that probably today it is difficult even to predict. So these are our plans. Building institutions I think should be in different directions. First, we need to start, I think from kind of a political dimension, because this is the most important. To what degree Armenia is willing to go forward? Because during the times of occupation, during my numerous contacts with Armenian leaders we always saw that when we came to a very decisive moment to have a break-through they always made a step back. There was very little trust and still, I can say that there is not much trust with their behavior if I may say so, because sometimes they make very contradictory statements. So, political dimension I think, important contribution will be also a kind of engagement of their representatives in our discussions. We, for instance will support that. We also think about some contacts, people-to-people contacts on the level of NGOs. As I said before, we can have some regional dimension, and also to look at a regional development broader. Because you know that European Union already announced very big financial package for Armenia 2.6 bln euros and also, later for Azerbaijan. So part of that resources can go to build connectivity and to create better opportunities for people. Taking into account a very small population of Armenia I think, that will be more than enough if it is used for the cause of peace but not again, try to take revenge or to possess a threat to its neighbors.

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13.05

An international conference under the motto “South Caucasus: Development and Cooperation” has been held at ADA University, APA reports.

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

The idea of conducting the international conference "South Caucasus: Development and Cooperation", which started in Shusha on 28 April and continues in Baku today, was put forward at the international conference “New Vision for the South Caucasus: Post-Conflict Development and Cooperation” held at ADA University with the participation of President Ilham Aliyev on 13 April last year (https://president.az/en/articles/view/51088). It was at that conference that the participants proposed to hold an international conference in Karabakh, and President Ilham Aliyev welcomed this proposal.

The fact that Shusha has become the main venue of events held under the auspices of UN and other influential organizations and turned into the diplomatic capital of the region also means a failure of the ugly campaigns to promote this ancient Azerbaijani city as an Armenian one through many years of false information.

It is no coincidence that participants of the international conference held panel discussions on “Shusha – the path to revival” on reconstruction work in Shusha and “Cooperation, opportunities and challenges” on the post-conflict period in Shusha on 28 April. This important platform provides an opportunity for foreign experts to discuss the peace agenda laid out by Azerbaijan for the development of relations between countries of the South Caucasus in the post-conflict period, the possibility of opening communications, the normalization of relations with Armenia as a basis for progress, security and prosperity.

*** 10:04

An international conference on "South Caucasus: Development and Cooperation" is held at ADA University, APA reports.

President Ilham Aliyev is attending the meeting.

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THE OPERATION IS BEING PERFORMED