Azerbaijan’s successful move towards sustainable development in Garabagh

Azerbaijan, which has been an active member of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) since 1992, at last, held its 27th meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers (ECO) in Shusha, the land of Azerbaijan, which was freed from occupation after 31 years. The importance of holding the event in Shusha, the cultural capital of Azerbaijan, was of particular importance. First of all, it should be noted that Azerbaijan, as a state that owns its sovereign territories, is realizing the Great Return to the lands of Garabagh and historical Zangazur, which were freed from occupation. This can be considered one of the most successful steps taken by Azerbaijan regarding economic revival. On the other hand, Shusha, which is considered the heart of Garabagh, has the prospect of becoming one of the great economic centers in the near future. As the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev stated in his appeal to the opening of the 27th Meeting of the ECO, Shusha will be declared the tourism capital of Azerbaijan in 2026.

Indeed, this is one of the bright examples of the rapid reconstruction and restoration works in Garabagh.

Although only three years have passed, after a heavy battle lasting 44 days, Azerbaijan was able to achieve great success. The liberation and restoration of 20% of the occupied territories also played the role of an extremely stimulating factor in the country's economic progress. In today's ministerial meeting in Shusha, this issue was specifically addressed. In general, the revival of Garabagh and its return to its past in a more modern form is also the start of a new life for more than one million internally displaced persons. Even during the former Soviet period, Garabagh was at the forefront of viticulture, winemaking, animal husbandry, and other agricultural fields.

Today, when looking at the modern world, the economic potential of Garabagh is much greater than in previous times. Because according to the requirements of today's era, Azerbaijan is also taking important steps to strengthen interstate relations with the creation of new communication and road infrastructure. At the same time, the provision of new residents of Garabagh with houses in accordance with modern requirements and ensuring their living are among the main demands of today. It is no coincidence that, as the head of state also noted, today the plan to return to Garabagh is considered one of the most priority issues for Azerbaijan.

“The program of the Great Return to the de-occupied territories is among our national priorities. As part of successfully implementing the program, the displaced persons' return has been ensured to the cities of Lachin and Fuzuli and the villages of Aghali, Zabukh, and Talish. Nearly 100 hundred thousand displaced persons are envisaged to be returned to their homes in the coming three years. Along with the revival of Karabakh and East Zangezur economic regions and ensuring sustainable resettling of the population, implementing the projects also enables conditions for turning these areas into a developed region.”

In addition, one of the other main priorities for Azerbaijan is the restoration of peace and security in the region. About three weeks ago, in response to the violation of the November 10, 2020 declaration by the separatist elements in Azerbaijan’s Garabagh Economic Region, Azerbaijan succeeded in clearing the terrorist groups in Garabagh as a result of anti-terrorist measures. Until that period, landmine terrorism, armed attacks, and other such unpleasant situations happened many times in Garabagh which caused death and injuries of civilians as well as servicemen of the Azerbaijani Army.

This was one of the factors seriously hindering the construction works in Garabagh. Also, the elements of separatism that hindered the reintegration process in Garabagh were eliminated and a dangerous situation was prevented.

At the same time, Azerbaijan is always inclined to peaceful and progressive steps, and in this regard, it always takes the first step in developing relations with neighboring Armenia in the format of 3+3 cooperation.

President Ilham Aliyev emphasized this very issue in his appeal: "Azerbaijan has always been a proponent of peace and the author of peace initiatives in the region. Stemming from the principle that regional matters must be resolved with the involvement of the countries of our immediate region, Azerbaijan has proposed the "3+3" cooperation format. A historic environment has emerged today for normalizing Armenia-Azerbaijan relations, signing the peace treaty, and transforming the South Caucasus into a region of peace and cooperation.”

Thus, at the 27th Meeting of the ECO held in Shusha, the topic themed Azerbaijan's OIC chairmanship as "Green transition and interaction" was one of the significant parts of the event. It is no coincidence that Green energy and decarbonization, which are the main priorities of the UN SDG, are among the main agenda of Azerbaijan's sustainable development program related to Garabagh. In addition, the "smart city" and "smart village" projects built in the Garabagh Economic Region and East Zangazur, declared energy zones, can be specially highlighted in this regard.

Further, as the head of state noted, Azerbaijan is also the most reliable transit country for the eight member states of the ECO. The passage of this road, which is considered the main segment of the Middle Corridor project and stretches from East to West, through the territory of Azerbaijan, made it necessary to develop the field of transportation and logistics.

With regard to the increased demand for cargo shipping along the East-West route, Azerbaijan is looking forward to increasing the throughput capacity of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway from the current 1 million to 5 million tons. In this regard, the recently reached agreement between Azerbaijan and Iran on the construction of a highway and railway to connect Nakhchivan is an example of the work done in the mentioned field. At the same time, Azerbaijan is taking important steps in the field of expanding the capacity of the North-South transport corridor.

All the work done in this way shows once again that Azerbaijan successfully fulfills its obligations among the nine member states of ECO. In addition, Azerbaijan highly appreciates the support given in ensuring peace and stability in the region, as peace and security in the region is also a successful development of joint economic cooperation.