PRESIDENT ILHAM ALIYEV’S VISIT TO KHANKENDI AND HIS RAISING NATIONAL FLAG OF AZERBAIJAN THERE IN WORLD MEDIA SPOTLIGHT

The influential media outlets around the world have widely covered President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev’s visit to Khankendi, other districts and cities of Karabakh on October 15, as well as his raising the Azerbaijani tricolor flag and remarks made there.

The Turkish leading media outlets, including Anadolu Agency and IHA news agencies, as well as TRT Haber, NTV, CNN Turk TV channels, “Hurriyet”, “Haberturk”, “YeniAkit”, “Yenicagh”, “Sabah” and other media outlets have published articles highlighting President Ilham Aliyev’s visit to Khankendi and Khojaly.

The articles mentioned that on October 15, President Ilham Aliyev visited the city of Khankendi following the victory in anti-terrorist measures last month against Armenian armed detachments in Karabakh, as well as raised the national flag of Azerbaijan.

The article, published by “YeniAkit” news portal, quoted Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev as saying: “The main reason we are here today is the people of Azerbaijan, the children of Azerbaijan. We have raised such a young generation that was ready to die for the Motherland, for our lands, and they were confronting death. May Allah have mercy on all our martyrs. We bow our heads to their souls. We, the people of Azerbaijan, are forever indebted to them.”

“Twenty years ago, when I started to fulfil my duties as President, I set myself top priority task of raising the Azerbaijani flag in all our territories, all our lands, cities and villages that were occupied at the time,” the author said.

The article, published by “Sozcu” newspaper, quoted the Azerbaijani President as saying: “Three years ago, over the course of the last three years and during the anti-terror operation in September, Azerbaijani soldiers and officers showed true heroism, patriotism and self-sacrifice. We are proud of our Army, our Armed Forces. They are the source of our pride. Not only Azerbaijani citizens but also, I am sure, tens of millions of Azerbaijanis living in the world are rightly proud of Azerbaijani soldiers and officers, and the state of Azerbaijan.”

Russian media outlets, including “Moskovski Komsomolets”, the official publication of the Russian State Duma “Parlamentskaya gazeta”, TASS news agency, “Vedomosti” portal, “NTV” and “REN TV”, “TVTS” and other Russian TV channels, as well as “Argumenti i fakti”, “Vechernyaya Moskva”, “Gazeta.ru”, “Kommersant”, “Rossiyskaya gazeta”, “Voennoye delo”, “Interfax”, “Fontanka.ru”, “Izvestia” and many other Russian publications widely covered the visit of the Azerbaijani President to Khankendi and his speech made there.

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev’s visit was also in the spotlight of media of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The articles, published by the country’s news agencies such as “Fena”, “Slobodna Bosna”, “Federalna”, “Dnevnik”, “Avaz”, “Vijesti” and “Hayat” it was noted that President Ilham Aliyev raised the national flag of Azerbaijan and made a speech in the city of Khankendi.

The articles, published articles by Serbian news agencies and portals such as “Tanjug”, “Danas”, “Politika”, “24 Sedam”, “Blic”, “Pravda”, “Nova”, “Vesti”, “Srbija Danas”, “n1info”, “NSPM”, “021.rs”, as well as Romanian news portal “StiriPeSurse”, “FinancialIntelligence”, “Viata Libera” publications, Romanian National News Agency AGERPRES, “Mediafax” news agency, “Digi 24” television channel and other influential media outlets, emphasized that President Ilham Aliyev raised Azerbaijan’s national tricolor flag in Khankendi, the largest city of Karabakh, and made a speech there.

French “lorientlejour.com” and Algeria’s “algerie9.com” portals also posted articles highlighting President Ilham Aliyev’s raising the national flag of Azerbaijan in many cities of Karabakh.

The articles, citing AZERTAC news agency, mentioned that President Ilham Aliyev raised the Azerbaijani flag in Khankendi, Asgaran and Aghdara. It was also emphasized that President Ilham Aliyev described the raising of the Azerbaijani flag in Khankendi as a historic event. “It is a great happiness and a historic event,” President Ilham Aliyev emphasized.

The leading media outlets of Moldova have widely covered Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s visit to the city of Khankendi.

The articles, published by “Noi”, “Unica”, “Radio Europa Libera Moldova”, “Timpul”, “AVA”, “Journal” and other news portals in Romanian and Russian languages, drew the readers’ attention to the fact that President Ilham Aliyev raised the national flag of Azerbaijan and made a speech in Khankendi city.

The articles quoted President Ilham Aliyev as saying: “This year is the “Year of Heydar Aliyev”. We have been celebrating the 100th anniversary of Heydar Aliyev’s birth throughout the year. How do we celebrate? We celebrate it by continuing his policy and honoring his historical heritage. I spent the Great Leader’s birthday in Shusha. I know that some people were wondering where the ceremony would be held, who the speakers would be and which foreign guests would attend. Then they realized that no ceremony would be held. Why? Because our respect for the memory of the Great Leader had to be measured by specific actions. This is first. Secondly, Heydar Aliyev was a very modest person and was never fond of lavish ceremonies. I remember his 50th birthday very well. In 1973, we celebrated it at home only with the family. I also remember his 60th birthday too. He was working in Moscow at the time. There were no guests there either. To celebrate his 70th birthday with my father, I went to Nakhchivan. And his 80th birthday, his health was not so good any more, we celebrated it in the hospital in Ankara, in the canteen of that hospital. This is why we had to celebrate my father’s 100th birthday in Shusha, which has a great symbolic meaning for us and has a special place in the heart of every Azerbaijani. There, addressing the people of Azerbaijan, I expressed my heartfelt words.”

The articles also emphasized that the visit was coincided with the 20th anniversary of Ilham Aliyev’s election as President of the Republic of Azerbaijan.