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The opening ceremony of the 13th Session of the World Urban Forum was held in Baku. President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev attended the event. He delivered a speech at the event.
President said: This is the second largest international event after COP29, which was held in Azerbaijan a year and a half ago, and I hope that the outcome of the 13th Session of the World Urban Forum will be as successful as COP29.
Since 2022, we have held three national urban planning forums in Azerbaijan, in cities that have been under occupation for many years – Agdam, Zangilan and Khankendi, with the support of the UN Habitat Program.
By organizing today’s global gathering, we once again demonstrate our strong commitment to urban planning, its development, the agenda of improving people’s lives and providing our population with all the necessary conditions for them to feel comfortable. Not only Baku, but also many ancient cities of Azerbaijan can be proud of their architecture. I will mention some of them. In Shamakhi, once the capital of the Shirvanshahs’ state and the birthplace of the great Azerbaijani poet Nasimi, who wrote and created in the 14th century, there is one of the oldest mosques in the world, built in 743. In Nakhchivan, once the capital of the Atabeys’ state, the homeland of the great architect Ajami Nakhchivani, there is the Momina Khatun Mausoleum built by him in the 12th century. Ganja, one of the oldest cities in the world, the homeland of another great Azerbaijani poet Nizami Ganjavi, who lived and created in the 12th century, is developing like Baku today and preserves its historical image. There are numerous historical monuments in Gabala, the capital of the Caucasian Albania state, and in Sheki, one of the main cities. The church in the village of Kish, located near the city of Sheki, is perhaps one of the oldest churches in the world. Another example that demonstrates the talent of our ancestors is the village of Lahij. When the village was founded fifteen centuries ago, people laid a sewage system and a water pipeline that still works today. Shusha, the crown of Karabakh, which was occupied for almost 30 years, is now being rebuilt from scratch and its damaged fortress has been restored.
The monuments that were built by our ancestors are not the only ones I mentioned. Of course, the Maiden Tower of the 6th century and Baku, monuments that were subjected to occupation, destruction and looting, were rebuilt and restored by Azerbaijanis of different generations, and at the same time, they were preserved and preserved to this day. Everyone can visit and see all these monuments that I mentioned, enter them and touch them. I believe that this is the best indicator of our attitude towards our historical heritage, our legacy. We are proud of this. We are proud of our ancient history, which is reflected not only in our music and poetry, but also in architecture. Our duty is to preserve them for future generations, and I am sure that the next generation will do the same.
One of the main tasks facing our government now is the reconstruction of Karabakh and East Zangezur. This territory was under Armenian occupation for 30 years and was completely destroyed and annihilated. International observers and visitors compared Agdam to Hiroshima, they called Agdam “the Hiroshima of the Caucasus”. Because the city simply did not exist. The city was completely destroyed, and unlike Hiroshima, it did not become this way in one day as a result of the dropping of an atomic bomb. This was done during the 30-year occupation, during which time buildings, historical and public buildings, houses were completely demolished and destroyed.
So, the Great Return Program is currently being implemented, Master Plans of cities and villages are being prepared. I can, of course, give many figures, but I will mention only two. The length of the tunnels that we have built in 5 years is 70 kilometers. Another five will be built. Out of 500 bridges, 435 have been built. In addition, power plants, water supply pipelines, reservoirs, houses, schools, hospitals, three international airports have been built, and railways have been laid. All this was built in just five years.
Over the past 20 years, we have created 100 parks and public spaces, gardens in Baku. 19 of them have been completely renovated. Environmentally friendly cities with quick access to public transport, micromobility, metro and modern buses running on electric energy are being implemented as components of a whole concept for the capital and not only the capital.
