Evaluation of President Ilham Aliyev's 10-year activity - the "President of Decade" award fully reflects the reality

Azerbaijan, Baku, July 14/ Trend / A ceremony was held in Istanbul Saturday to present "President of Decade" in Turkic countries, the Middle East and the South Caucasus award that was won by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in a survey conducted by the Turkish Ekovitrin magazine. The survey involved 270,992 respondents. The ceremony brought together chief of socio-political department of Azerbaijan`s Presidential Administration Ali Hasanov, Turkish minister of transport, maritime affairs and communications Binali Yıldırım, officials, businessmen, intellectuals. The event began with presentation of a documentary on the activity of Ekovitrin Media Group. President of the Media Group Kamuran Abacioglu briefed the participants on the history of Ekovitrin. Abacioglu also spoke of economic accomplishments made in Azerbaijan over the past 10 years. He added all these achievements were associated with President Ilham Aliyev`s successful policy. Speaking at the event Ali Hasanov thanked the staff of the Ekovitrin magazine. Hasanov highlighted the role of Azerbaijan and Turkey in Europe`s energy market, saying it increased after the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline. According to him, the past 10 years gave a lot to the world. "But these years gave the most valuable thing to Azerbaijan and Turkey - increase of power." Hasanov pointed out Azerbaijan, transporting energy recourses to the world market met its needs in economic, political, social and other spheres and became an important actor of the region. "Turkey in turn has become an important energy center delivering Caspian oil to the world." The Presidential Administration`s official noted it is impossible to imagine Europe`s energy security without Turkey, Azerbaijan and Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline. Hasanov said thanks to Azerbaijan, the Caspian basin and South Caucasus region had become one of economic and political power centers of the world. The Azerbaijani official noted one of the accomplishments of his country in the past 10 years was its securing a seat on the UN Security Council. "Azerbaijan is a second Turkic state which is a member of the Security Council," he added. Hasanov said Ilham Aliyev deserves the "President of Decade" award which completely reflects the reality. Addressing the ceremony Turkish minister Binali Yildirim highlighted the achievements made in his country over the past 10 years. Yildirim said energy projects such as Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan, Shahdeniz and TANAP strengthened not only relations between Azerbaijan and Turkey, but also the East and West. The minister also praised the fact that Azerbaijan had invested in Turkey`s oil and chemical industry. Yildirim underscored the role of President Ilham Aliyev in development of Azerbaijan, saying the Head of State deserves the "President of Decade" award. "We thank President Ilham Aliyev on behalf of the Turkish nation." Then minister Yildirim presented the "President of Decade" award to Ali Hasanov. A documentary was demonstrated at the ceremony featuring President Ilham Aliyev`s activity, particularly his successful foreign policy. The documentary said President Ilham Aliyev had successfully continued the oil strategy founded by national leader Heydar Aliyev. The construction of Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil and Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipelines was completed. As Head of State Ilham Aliyev outlined Azerbaijan`s socio-economic development as a key priority of the government policy, and implemented a range of state programs and projects on this front. Azerbaijan`s economy has been diversified, and the country ensured development of the non-oil sector. Azerbaijan was included in the list of 50 developed countries of the world. President Ilham Aliyev`s policy "the unemployment rate decreased to 5%, while the poverty rate fell to 6.2%. "As of 2012, the inflation rate is 1 % in the country. One million new jobs have been created in the last decade. Azerbaijan launched its first satellite to become a space country. Over the last decade the volume of investment in Azerbaijan's economy has exceeded 130 billion dollars mark. After purchasing Turkish Petkim Azerbaijan invested 17.5 billion dollars in the Star refinery project. Having become a gas exporter, Azerbaijan started to play an important role in ensuring the European energy security. The Azerbaijani-Turkish Trans-Anatolia gas pipeline project (TANAP) will export natural gas to Europe. The construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway line connecting East and West will be completed soon. Azerbaijan`s role as a venue for discussions on the intercultural dialogue, global political and economic problems was praised in the documentary. "Baku hosts the World Economic Forum, the Krans Montana Forum, the South Caucasus Forum, the Eurovision song contest, the International Humanitarian Forum, the Intercultural Dialogue Forum and the World Summit of Religious Leaders." "President Ilham Aliyev attaches great importance to the development of sports. Azerbaijan ranked 30th in the overall medal table in the London Summer Olympics. As a follow-up to these achievements the country will host the inaugural European Games in 2015." According to the survey of Ekovitrin, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan won "The most successful statesman of 10 years in Turkey" award, while Binali Yildirim won "The minister of 10 years" award. The Azerbaijan State Oil Company, SOCAR won the "Foreign investment making" award. The Istanbul-based Ekovitrin economic and political magazine, published since 2000, nominates the "Man of the Year" in the fields of economy, business, industry, export, finance, investment, politics and local governance. In 2005, it called President Ilham Aliyev "Politician of the Year in Eurasia". Do you have any feedback? Contact our journalist at agency@trend.az