[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 6]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 8085-8086]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




         MAY 10TH IS A SPECIAL DAY FOR THE PEOPLE OF AZERBAIJAN

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. DAN BURTON

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                         Wednesday, May 7, 2008

  Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Madam Speaker, on May 10, 2008 the people of 
Azerbaijan commemorate the 85th Jubilee of the birth of their late 
President Heydar Aliyev. A larger than life personality and a man of 
enormous political skill and stature, Heydar Aliyev worked tirelessly 
for more than 30 years--first as part of the Soviet Union, and later as 
President of a free and independent Azerbaijan--to build a strong, 
vibrant, healthy and prosperous nation.
  When Azerbaijan regained its independence in 1991, the political and 
economic vacuum caused by the collapse of the Soviet Union, domestic 
tensions fueled by competing forces at home and the disastrous war in 
Nagorno-Karabakh--which resulted in the military occupation of 20 
percent of Azerbaijan, and nearly one million refugees and internally 
displaced people--threatened to rip the country apart. Many 
Azerbaijanis were fearful that their first experience as the short-
lived first Republic in the Muslim world (1918-1920), would be 
repeated; and that a free and independent Azerbaijan would be nothing 
but a footnote in history.
  Heydar Aliyev, however, had a vision for Azerbaijan. He knew that 
Azerbaijan's future

[[Page 8086]]

would be assured if countries around the world had a stake in its 
independence and he knew that the key to attracting international 
investment in Azerbaijan's rich resources was stability. In 1993, when 
Heydar Aliyev became President of the Republic, first by appointment 
under the constitution, then through direct popular election he moved 
quickly to implement his vision. First, he negotiated a cease-fire in 
the war with Armenia--which was implemented in 1994--and next he pushed 
Parliament to begin enacting a series of laws to make the country 
friendlier to foreign investment and a member of the international 
market economy. President Aliyev opened up the country to investment 
from the United States, Western Europe, Russia, and Turkey and 
Azerbaijan soon became a pioneer in opening the Caspian Sea to 
international cooperation and oil and gas exploration. In fact, since 
the so-called ``Contract of the Century'' was signed in 1994, 
Azerbaijan has extensively developed its energy resources to help 
diversify western energy supplies. The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil 
pipeline, for example, which became fully operational in July 2006 and 
will soon provide one-third of the new oil flowing into the 
international market. In addition to the BTC pipeline, the Baku-
Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline is now functioning.
  President Aliyev was also aggressive in asserting Azerbaijan's place 
on the international political stage. He became a great friend to the 
United States and one of the first international leaders to offer 
unconditional assistance to the U.S.-led fight against global terrorism 
after 9-11--and was also one of the few Muslim leaders to agree to send 
troops to Iraq and Afghanistan. The strong relations between our two 
nations are a monument to his determination and will not be forgotten.
  Madam Speaker, despite foreign and domestic critics of President 
Aliyev's pro-western policies, most people acknowledge that President 
Heydar Aliyev represented security during those very dark early years 
of Azerbaijan's second independence; and most Azerbaijanis felt at the 
time that as long as Heydar Aliyev was at the helm, the ship of state 
would not sink. Today it's up to the youth of Azerbaijan to steer that 
ship and to carry on Heydar Aliyev's vision of a strong, vibrant, 
healthy and prosperous, and independent Azerbaijan. If they build upon 
the legacy President Aliyev left, I have no doubt they will succeed.

                          ____________________