On November 21, an event marking the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party (YAP) was held at the Heydar Aliyev Center, the Press Office of the Azerbaijani President reported. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev also participated in the meeting.

Regarding the financial policies, Aliyev emphasized, "We have deepened the economic reforms, and the work done in this field in the last 19 years is unmistakable. Suffice it to say that our economy has grown more than three times since 2003. This year, our economy will reach a record high. The forecast by the end of the year says that our economy will reach 130 billion manats. It is a record indicator. Of course, there is still much work to be done. The transparency of our economy, the fight against unpleasant situations, the significant reduction of the shadow economy, the improvement of the business environment, and the staunch fight against monopolies are all issues on the agenda. It includes applying corporate management to state companies, one of today's realities."

He commented on energy issues, "Our oil and gas projects, initiated by the Great Leader in the mid-1990s, have gained momentum. Even the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline the great leader authored has played a crucial role. The subsequent projects also significantly expanded our capabilities. Today, Azerbaijan has become an indispensable partner for many countries. The current processes unfolding in the world show that energy security is one of the key contributors to security. Without it, no country can consider itself safe. Our advantage, of course, is that we have natural resources. But there are so many countries with much bigger natural resources than ours. However – I don't want to compare ourselves to anyone – do all countries use those resources effectively? Of course not!"

Regarding relations with CSTO countries, President Aliyev added, "Even in organizations we are not a member of, we have many friends, and the events of recent years and months show this again. For example, the Collective Security Treaty Organization. We are not a member of this organization. Armenia is a member of it, and through this organization, it intended to raise an unfounded claim against Azerbaijan. It wanted the countries that are members of this organization to confront Azerbaijan. It is an enormous provocation and a crime. However, other members of this organization did not succumb to this provocation. Some disgraced Armenia so badly in their speeches that Armenia cannot recover to this day. So what does this mean? The number of our friends in this organization is higher than Armenia's [number of friends]. Why? Because of our policy and because we are a reliable partner. Why is the attitude towards Armenia negative? Because they lie everywhere."

About the recent Francophonie Summit, Aliyev emphasized, "An ugly provocation was recently planned against Azerbaijan within the framework of Francophonie, an organization we are not a member of, but for some reason, Armenia is. The author of this provocation was France, and France is now patronizing Armenia. They refer to each other as sisters, and I could see that some friends noted this particularly. Not to mention that they could call each other brothers, but for some reason, they say they are sisters." He added: "The initial version of the resolution they had prepared was based purely on anti-Azerbaijani theses and was wide of the mark. As a result of the efforts of our friends in the Francophonie organization – we know them well, and they are our friends in the true sense of the word – all anti-Azerbaijani theses were removed from there. The French-Armenian tandem failed to use this opportunity."

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