Speech by Ilham Aliyev at the opening ceremony of the Iğdır-Nakhchivan gas pipeline

- Dear Mr. President, my dear Brother,

Dear participants of the ceremony,

Today is an important day in the history of Turkish-Azerbaijani friendship and brotherhood – we are celebrating the opening of the Iğdır-Nakhchivan gas pipeline. As mentioned here, together with the esteemed President, we laid the foundation stone of this gas pipeline in Nakhchivan a year and a half ago and are now participating in this wonderful ceremony.

As you may know, Nakhchivan is an ancient Azerbaijani land. However, it has been separated from the rest of Azerbaijan for more than a century. The reason for this is that five months after the collapse of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic in 1920, the Soviet authorities severed West Zangezur from Azerbaijan and annexed it to Armenia, thus interrupting the overland connection between the main part of Azerbaijan and its inseparable part, Nakhchivan. This injustice has lasted for more than a century and has had an adverse impact on the lives of our fellow citizens living in Nakhchivan. When the First Karabakh War broke out, Armenia occupied Karabakh and, at the same time, kept Nakhchivan under blockade. Their plan was to occupy Nakhchivan as well. However, my father, Heydar Aliyev, then the leader of Nakhchivan, did not allow this to happen, and all the people of Nakhchivan mobilized their efforts to defend Nakhchivan, protect their native lands, and push the occupiers back.

One of the reasons why Nakhchivan was not occupied at the time was that the “Umid” bridge, connecting Nakhchivan with Türkiye, was built, and the aid from Türkiye made a very significant contribution to the protection of Nakhchivan.

Today, Türkiye and Azerbaijan, two brotherly countries, are implementing huge projects. Oil and gas pipeline projects such as Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan, Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum, and TANAP have not only connected our countries but also redrawn the energy map of Eurasia. Currently, gas flowing from Azerbaijan through Türkiye contributes to the energy security of many countries. Last year, Azerbaijan's gas exports reached 25 billion cubic meters, with Türkiye accounting for the half of that volume. Additionally, 11 countries, including 10 in Europe, are strengthening their energy security by purchasing Azerbaijani gas.

The project we are inaugurating today will ensure Nakhchivan's energy security. Gas from Azerbaijan will be transferred to Nakhchivan through Türkiye via a swap agreement, permanently resolving this issue for Nakhchivan.

Our joint energy initiatives have also enabled the implementation of transport projects. Today, the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, which connects Türkiye with Azerbaijan, provides enormous advantages both for our countries and for a wider region. This transport link has tremendous significance and benefits, especially in terms of uniting the Turkic world. Naturally, the unity and brotherhood between Türkiye and Azerbaijan make a substantial contribution to the entire Turkic world. My dear Brother, the esteemed President, has played an immense role in the unification of the Turkic world. Under his leadership, Türkiye has achieved great successes and created new opportunities for closer Turkic unity. Azerbaijan has always placed significance on the unification of the Turkic world and has spared no effort to ensure this unity, make it eternal, and establish relations based on common interests and shared history.

Today's ceremony is yet another testament to the unity, friendship, and brotherhood between Türkiye and Azerbaijan. It is a vivid manifestation of this bond. I am sure that nearly 500,000 of our fellow citizens in Nakhchivan will celebrate this occasion as a holiday today in the blessed month of Ramadan. On my own behalf, I would like to express my gratitude to our friends who contributed to this achievement. The construction was completed in a short time, in just over a year, and we are already participating in this wonderful ceremony.

Once again, I sincerely congratulate both of us - Türkiye and Azerbaijan - on this milestone and wish our peoples and states continued success. Thank you.