Participation of President Ilham Aliyev in the opening ceremony of the 10th Global Baku Forum

Under the patronage of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and organized by the Nizami Ganjavi International Center, the 10th Global Baku Forum themed “The World of Today: Challenges and Hopes” began on March 9. During the opening ceremony, touching upon the peace negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, President Ilham Aliyev in his speech stated that before the Second Karabakh War, Azerbaijan had tried to resolve the conflict peacefully, but Armenia did not take a constructive approach in this direction, consequently, Azerbaijan liberated its territories from occupation by force during the Second Karabakh War and is currently continuing reconstruction efforts in a large area of 10,000 square meters that was completely destroyed.

“Thus, now is the time for peace,” said President Ilham Aliyev, emphasizing that immediately after the war ended in November 2020, Azerbaijan initiated peace negotiations and presented the five well-known principles that would form the basis of a peace agreement with Armenia, expressing his hope that the Armenian side would not miss this opportunity. Regarding the Armenian minority in Azerbaijan, President Ilham Aliyev highlighted that Azerbaijan is a multi-confessional, multi-ethnic country known for its high level of religious and ethnic tolerance, where representatives of various ethnic groups and confessions live peacefully and with dignity, that the rights of minorities in Azerbaijan are protected by our Constitution, and that the lives of Armenians living in the Karabakh region would be better than during the period of occupation.