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Azerbaijan has a very positive and high reputation on the international arena, said Azerbaijan‘s President Ilham Aliyev.

He made the remarks during the signing of the Amended and Restated Agreement on the Joint Development and Production Sharing for the Azeri and Chirag fields and the Deep Water Portion of the Gunashli field in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea on Sept. 14.

The president noted that the signing of the Contract of the Century is associated with the National Leader Heydar Aliyev.

“Azerbaijan faced difficult problems when gaining independence in 1991. In particular, our country was at the edge of a cliff as a result of the improper activity of the Popular Front of Azerbaijan (PFA)-Musavat tandem which illegally captured the power after the coup in 1992. Economic recession, decrease of the industrial potential and inflation was rated at thousands of percent. The country almost lacked economic prospects. There was political, military, economic crisis, anarchy and chaos. And in order to maintain the shaky power, the illegal government used force. Civil war broke out in Azerbaijan, blood was shed. The country’s second largest city Ganja was bombed by PFA-Musavat government. Azerbaijan faced a big tragedy. In parallel, Armenia was pursuing a policy of occupation against our country and the large part of our lands was occupied as a result of this policy,” said President Aliyev.

Recalling that over a million people of Azerbaijan became refugees and IDPs as a result of the conflict, Ilham Aliyev said that in such a difficult situation, the Azerbaijani people made a right choice: they appealed to Heydar Aliyev and invited him to power.

“After his election as president in 1993, the situation began to recover gradually. Economic and political reforms were conducted, all illegal armed units were disarmed, Azerbaijan embarked on a path of democracy and the country managed to get out of the international isolation,” he said. “Of course, our country needed investments to ensure successful development, because that time the treasury was empty and there was no opportunity for development. Indeed, in this situation great wisdom, skill, competence, and experience were required to persuade big foreign oil companies and to attract them to Azerbaijan. Heydar Aliyev successfully fulfilled this historical mission,” noted the president.

President Aliyev said that that time, Azerbaijan was considered a very risky place and in this situation, the signing of the Contract of the Century in 1994, and attraction of big investments in the country were really a historical success.

“Twenty three years pass since that day. Over these years, Azerbaijan has developed rapidly. Today, our country is known in the world as a strong country standing on its own feet. Today we have very broad international relations. Azerbaijan has a very positive and high reputation on the international arena,” said the president.

It is not accidental that several years ago, 155 countries elected Azerbaijan as the non-permanent member of the UN Security Council and this is a sign of sympathy, respect and support to the country on the international arena, said the president.

He pointed out today Azerbaijan is among the countries which live on its own account.

“We have quite big currency reserves and our economy is developing dynamically. Very important steps were taken in economic diversification and reducing dependence on the oil and gas factor. There is no political, economic or another problem or obstacle to our country’s future development,” added President Aliyev.

He said that Azerbaijan will further develop successfully.

“Our country has a great potential. We have strengthened this potential over the last years and the Contract of the Century has a special role in the development of this potential,” added the president.

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