On March 16, an extraordinary summit of the heads of State of the Organization of Turkic States is being held in Ankara on the initiative of President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev.
The event is attended by Head of State Ilham Aliyev.
President of the Republic of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan met President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and other heads of state and government.
Then a joint photo was taken.
In his speech, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed gratitude to President Ilham Aliyev for the initiative to hold an extraordinary Summit on the topic “Disaster – Emergency Management and humanitarian assistance” after the earthquake in Turkey.
Then the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Chairman of the Organization of Turkic States, made a speech.
A video was shown about the consequences of the devastating earthquake in Turkey and humanitarian aid to the fraternal country.
A minute of silence was held in memory of those who died as a result of the natural disaster.
Then Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty of the Parliament of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov made a speech.
The Head of our state spoke at an extraordinary Summit.
Speech by President Ilham Aliyev
Dear brother, dear President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Dear Heads of State and Government, dear friends.
We are extremely saddened by the consequences of a powerful earthquake in fraternal Turkey, which caused numerous casualties and injuries. This devastating earthquake claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people. Dear brother, in connection with the tragedy, on behalf of the people of Azerbaijan, I once again express my deep condolences to you, the families and loved ones of the victims, the fraternal people of Turkey, and wish recovery to the injured.
As soon as the earthquake occurred, the government and people of Azerbaijan mobilized to provide humanitarian assistance to fraternal Turkey. 940 people were sent from Azerbaijan to the earthquake zone, including rescuers, medical personnel and volunteers. According to the number of rescuers sent to Turkey, Azerbaijan was the first among the countries of the world. As a result of the efforts of our rescuers and doctors, 53 people were rescued alive from the rubble. The bodies of 780 people were also found under the rubble. Our medical staff provided medical services to a total of more than 3 thousand people.
To date, more than $45 million has been transferred to the bank accounts of AFAD and other humanitarian organizations. In addition, 5,300 tons of humanitarian aid were delivered to fraternal Turkey.
Azerbaijan and Turkey have always been close to each other in both joyful and sorrowful days. It will continue to be so.
I am sure that thanks to the leadership of my dear brother, respected President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey will successfully eliminate the consequences of this earthquake.
The political, diplomatic and moral support provided to Azerbaijan by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2020 from the first hours to the last day of the Second Karabakh War gave us additional strength.
At the same time, during the 44-day war, the entire Turkish people were close to Azerbaijan. Thousands of messages of support and congratulations from Turkey were received during the war and after our historic Victory.
In June 2021, in the city of Shusha, which is the crown of Karabakh, the Shusha Declaration was signed between Turkey and Azerbaijan and our relations were officially raised to the allied level.
Over the past 20 years, under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey has gone a long and glorious way, gained credibility in the world, and turned into a power center. Today, Turkey is considered and respected in the world.
Now everyone in the world sees the military power of Turkey, its great successes in the field of defense industry. Ensuring continuous stability in Turkey during these years and the development of the country are an important condition for the entire Turkic world.
The awarding of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with the Highest Order of the Turkic World at the Summit of the Organization of Turkic States in Samarkand in 2022 once again proves his great merits in strengthening the Turkic world. I am sure that my dear brother will make a great contribution to further strengthening the relations created on the basis of brotherhood between our countries for many years to come.
Dear friends, during the 30-year period of occupation by Armenia, hundreds of our cities and villages, historical and religious monuments, cemeteries were purposefully destroyed. Foreign experts call the destroyed city of Agdam the “Hiroshima of the Caucasus”. 65 out of 67 mosques in Karabakh and Eastern Zangezur were destroyed by Armenians, and the remaining two were used as pigsties and cowsheds.
Our natural resources have been plundered, and the environment has been seriously damaged.
As a result of the First Karabakh War, about 4 thousand of our citizens went missing. We can say that they were all killed by being tortured. After the liberation of our lands, we found mass graves in several places. Armenia still refuses to provide information about the fate of missing Azerbaijanis.
Due to the Armenian occupation, Azerbaijan is among the countries of the world most polluted by mines. After the Second Karabakh War, that is, since November 2020, as a result of mine explosions, about 300 Azerbaijanis were killed or seriously injured.
Although Armenia recognized the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan in Prague and Sochi in 2022, it still has not completely withdrawn its troops from the territories of Azerbaijan. Illegal Armenian formations and criminal elements remain in Karabakh.
Armenia also evades the obligation to open the Zangezur corridor.
Thus, Armenia grossly violates the Statement signed on November 10, 2020, and must bear responsibility for it.
After the liberation of Karabakh and Eastern Zangezur from the Armenian occupation in 2020, Azerbaijan is carrying out large-scale restoration work in these territories. Azerbaijan is bringing life back to the vast territories completely destroyed by Armenia. We are building 9 new cities from scratch and at the first stage – more than 300 villages and towns.
This is a unique and unprecedented model of post-conflict reconstruction carried out by the national Government at the expense of its own financial resources.
We have started implementing the “Great Return” program for the return of former internally displaced persons to their native lands.
Turkish companies are actively involved in the reconstruction process as contractors in many infrastructure projects. The value of contracts signed with Turkish companies to date exceeds 3 billion US dollars. My dear brother Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited the liberated lands three times, visited Shusha, Fuzuli, Zangilan and Jabrail.
I take this opportunity to express my gratitude to President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev and President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev for the school that Uzbekistan is building in the Fizuli district liberated from occupation, and the creative center that Kazakhstan is building there.
I would also like to inform you that the Azerbaijan-Uzbek Investment Fund and the Azerbaijan-Kyrgyz Development Fund have recently been established.
Dear colleagues, the Turkic world is not limited to the borders of the Turkic states. The Turkic world covers a much larger geography. More than 50 million Azerbaijanis live in the world. Only 10 million of them live in the independent Republic of Azerbaijan.
By the decision of the Soviet government in November 1920, Western Zangezur, which is our historical land, was separated from Azerbaijan and transferred to Armenia, which caused the geographical division of the Turkic world. Until 1991, all Azerbaijanis were forcibly expelled from the territory of present-day Armenia. As in Karabakh and Eastern Zangezur, Armenia destroyed our cultural heritage, mosques, historical monuments and in the territory of present-day Armenia – in Western Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani public has repeatedly appealed to UNESCO with a request to send a fact-finding mission to this country in order to monitor the cultural heritage of the Azerbaijani people in present-day Armenia and is waiting for a positive response from UNESCO.
Our compatriots who were subjected to ethnic cleansing in Western Azerbaijan have now united in the Community of Western Azerbaijan. They set themselves the goal of a peaceful return to historical lands. According to the Concept of Return developed by the Community of Western Azerbaijan, a legally binding international agreement with an appropriate verification and guarantee mechanism should be reached for the return of Azerbaijanis forcibly expelled from the territory of present-day Armenia to their native lands.
Just as we, the Azerbaijani state, will ensure the individual rights and security of Armenians living in Karabakh, Armenia must also ensure the rights and security of Western Azerbaijanis based on the principle of reciprocity.
In conclusion of my speech, as the initiator of this Summit, I propose, along with the official summits, to hold informal summits annually in the historical cities of our countries. This will serve to further consolidate the Turkic states.
Thank you for your attention.
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It should be noted that the event was planned to be held in Shusha, but in connection with the terrible earthquake that occurred in Turkey, President Ilham Aliyev made a proposal to hold a Summit in Ankara in order to support the fraternal country. After coordination with the leadership of the other participating countries, a corresponding decision was made, which once again testifies to the Azerbaijani-Turkish brotherhood, mutual support and respect in the Turkic world.
The summit, dedicated to the theme “Disaster – emergency management and humanitarian assistance”, will become a platform where issues related to the emergency situation caused by the earthquake in the southern and southeastern regions of Turkey will be discussed at the highest level. The leaders will pay attention to the creation within the framework of the Organization of Turkic States of mechanisms for close multilateral cooperation and coordination in the fight against natural disasters, will hold consultations on the current challenges facing the region.
Source: Press Center of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan
