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Elnur Enveroglu

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President Ilham Aliyev was specially invited to the Munich Security Conference and had a sumptuous meeting with a number of leading people across the world organizations, including the West and Europe.

In Munich, during numerous meetings, President Ilham Aliyev held meetings with representatives of the US State Department and the European Commission, as well as OSCE Secretary General Halga Mari. The important point was that this time, Azerbaijan was conducting talks completely outside the context of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, that is, on a kind of business level. As the head of state noted, the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan has been resolved long ago. De facto peace reigns in Garabagh - and this, of course, was what Azerbaijan wanted for 30 years.

At the Munich Security Conference, all eyes were on Azerbaijan. Because it is no coincidence that this year Azerbaijan is hosting such a grandiose and responsible event as COP29. Already this year, for the first time, the countries of the world will participate in an international event in the Republic of Azerbaijan, which has regained its full sovereignty.

In addition, Azerbaijan's gas export to Europe and close cooperation remain unchanged on the agenda. Before that, despite the speeches with sanctions against Azerbaijan in the tense hall of PACE full of pro-Armenian politicians, the reality could not change anything.

In general, Azerbaijan's participation in the Munich Security Conference and the meetings held once again show that Azerbaijan's foreign policy has a global character. The outlines of the foreign policy were voiced by our head of state at the inauguration ceremony.

“We are not asking anyone for anything. I have been the president for more than 20 years and so far I have not asked anyone for anything, because there was no need for that. We are a fully self-sufficient country. We support cooperation in a bilateral format and our foreign policy is designed for this – equitable relations, respect for each other, good relations with each other and, as they say, non-interference in each other's affairs. These are our principles. We have dictated these principles and succeeded in having them accepted.”

This point in President Ilham Aliyev's speech once again showed its special importance in Munich. Because this is an independent, confident and successful foreign policy.

Azerbaijan supports cooperation in bilateral format. Our foreign policy is based on the principles of equal relations, mutual respect, good relations, and non-interference in each other's affairs.

If the foreign policy of Azerbaijan in the previous period was based on the solution of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, new directions have been determined in the new period. After that, Azerbaijan will be more active in solving problems that concern the world. Azerbaijan, a strong country of the South Caucasus, will be at the forefront of the fight against Islamophobia, and will be next to the countries that defend against neo-colonialism.

In a nutshell, Azerbaijan will defend its positions, will not back down, and will respond adequately to the steps taken against it. Because there is no doubt that the foreign policy of Azerbaijan is a clear and completely transparent policy.

At the same time, the foreign policy of Azerbaijan is already a policy that goes beyond the borders of the region. Azerbaijan is already included in the category of countries considered to be a middle power in the world. This category includes countries like the UAE, Israel and others.

As for Armenia, it seems necessary and unavoidable for official Yerevan to take more serious steps in the direction of normal and effective neighborly relations. In the South Caucasus, neither the Garabagh conflict nor the so-called separatism problems are left. Only following the principles of neighborliness, respecting borders and staying away from provocations are evaluated as the most adequate step within international law and Baku’s key principles. At the same time, as President Ilham Aliyev noted, there is no need for third-party intervention in solving such internal issues for Azerbaijan. Because Armenia knows what to do, and this has been repeatedly stated by official Baku.

“We have resolved our problem. We have initiated the signing of a peace agreement with Armenia. We were the author of the five well-known principles. We also wrote the text of the peace agreement and sent it to the Armenian side. Now, if Armenia wants to comply with the norms of international law, this agreement will be signed. If he doesn't and if groundless claims continue to be made against us, this agreement will not be signed, but nothing will change for Azerbaijan.”

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Elnur Enveroglu is AzerNews’ Deputy Editor-in-Chief, follow him on @ElnurMammadli1

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