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President Ilham Aliyev: Azerbaijan has taken great steps toward democratic development in recent years

21 January 2015 15:52 (UTC +04:00)

Berlin. Fuad Gulubeyli – APA. “There’s nothing wrong with my rating. Polls conducted in Azerbaijan suggest my rating is nearly 90 percent. This is due to reforms carried out in Azerbaijan over the past years,” Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev told reporters at a press conference following his meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, APA’s special correspondent reports from Berlin.

The president noted that Azerbaijan has been the world’s fastest developing country over the last 11 years.

“Economy has tripled, poverty and unemployment each make 5 percent. The Davos Economic Forum ranked Azerbaijan’s economy 38th in terms of competitiveness. Of course, any leader with such results should be rated very high,” he added.

The president said Azerbaijan has ensured all freedoms, including freedom of speech and freedom of assembly.

“There are hundreds of newspapers, no censorship and free internet access in Azerbaijan. The number of Internet users accounts to 72 percent. Freedom of assembly can be regarded as the same. Various political parties regularly hold rallies. In recent years, Azerbaijan has taken great steps toward democratic development. We believe that political and economic reforms should be carried out concurrently. Only in this case, the sustainability of these reforms can be achieved.”

The president said that there is no religious confrontation in Azerbaijan: “We are committed to universal human values and cherish them.”