İlham Aliyev: The main problems that the world faces now - are just perceptions, ambitions, and the fight for so-called virtual leadership
19 January 2023
“We want the Non-Aligned Movement to take its place on the world stage against the backdrop of the obvious polarization of major Powers”. That's what the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said during the interview to China's CGTN TV channel in Davos.
To the question of the correspondent of the channel “This is the World Economic Forum with the theme "Cooperation in a Fragmented World", and the reason it's the theme is because it's difficult to cooperate… What makes cooperation so difficult?”, President replied:
“I believe that different countries' ambitions, a kind of struggle for so-called leadership either in the region or in the world, miscalculation of potential, its own potential, and underestimation of counterparts or opponents are all factors. This leads to mistrust, this leads to tensions, and this leads to war. Our policy has always been based on cooperation in the real sense of that word, because we strongly believe that only through cooperation can you achieve success. The more you give and the more you help, the more you will get. That’s how to say how the world works… It is exactly like life. Politics and life are very similar, because both are being done by people. And one example, which I can also bring to your attention in answering this question, is our efforts as Chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement. For the fourth year, Azerbaijan has presided over the Non-Aligned Movement. By unanimous decision, we have been elected, and by unanimous decision, our chairmanship has been extended one more year until the end of this year. And during this period, we really demonstrated that we wanted this movement to be vocal. We want this movement to take its place on the world stage because the polarization of big powers is obvious. The gap between the interests of small and big powers probably will not shrink. Therefore, the Non-Aligned Movement, which was actually created as an alternative but then to a certain degree lost its potential, has great potential. Because the countries have more or less the same past, they have the same problems. Most of them have been colonized, and they know what it means to be under the control of others. During the time of the pandemic, we provided medical, humanitarian, and financial assistance to more than 80 countries, and we did it voluntarily. And we did it not for any monetary gain but simply because we believed that if we had this capability, we should use it. We had a time when we needed help at the beginning of the 1990s, when we were poor and had a lot of social problems. So, we know what it means to be poor. So, we need your help. And if this ideology or philosophy dominates, then the world will be much safer. And once again, the main problems that the world faces now do not have a legitimate source. It is just perceptions, ambitions, and the fight for so-called virtual leadership… Because this leadership cannot be measured because it is virtual, it can be created by the media, which is under your control; it can be created by NGOs, which are also under your control; but you cannot prove it in a so-called competition. Therefore, let those who do it put down these weapons. Let them concentrate on the needs of mankind: on poverty, on malnutrition, on many countries having no access to drinking water or electricity – these are fundamental problems in the world”.
To the question of the correspondent of the channel “This is the World Economic Forum with the theme "Cooperation in a Fragmented World", and the reason it's the theme is because it's difficult to cooperate… What makes cooperation so difficult?”, President replied:
“I believe that different countries' ambitions, a kind of struggle for so-called leadership either in the region or in the world, miscalculation of potential, its own potential, and underestimation of counterparts or opponents are all factors. This leads to mistrust, this leads to tensions, and this leads to war. Our policy has always been based on cooperation in the real sense of that word, because we strongly believe that only through cooperation can you achieve success. The more you give and the more you help, the more you will get. That’s how to say how the world works… It is exactly like life. Politics and life are very similar, because both are being done by people. And one example, which I can also bring to your attention in answering this question, is our efforts as Chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement. For the fourth year, Azerbaijan has presided over the Non-Aligned Movement. By unanimous decision, we have been elected, and by unanimous decision, our chairmanship has been extended one more year until the end of this year. And during this period, we really demonstrated that we wanted this movement to be vocal. We want this movement to take its place on the world stage because the polarization of big powers is obvious. The gap between the interests of small and big powers probably will not shrink. Therefore, the Non-Aligned Movement, which was actually created as an alternative but then to a certain degree lost its potential, has great potential. Because the countries have more or less the same past, they have the same problems. Most of them have been colonized, and they know what it means to be under the control of others. During the time of the pandemic, we provided medical, humanitarian, and financial assistance to more than 80 countries, and we did it voluntarily. And we did it not for any monetary gain but simply because we believed that if we had this capability, we should use it. We had a time when we needed help at the beginning of the 1990s, when we were poor and had a lot of social problems. So, we know what it means to be poor. So, we need your help. And if this ideology or philosophy dominates, then the world will be much safer. And once again, the main problems that the world faces now do not have a legitimate source. It is just perceptions, ambitions, and the fight for so-called virtual leadership… Because this leadership cannot be measured because it is virtual, it can be created by the media, which is under your control; it can be created by NGOs, which are also under your control; but you cannot prove it in a so-called competition. Therefore, let those who do it put down these weapons. Let them concentrate on the needs of mankind: on poverty, on malnutrition, on many countries having no access to drinking water or electricity – these are fundamental problems in the world”.
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