President Ilham Aliyev addressed the people of Azerbaijan on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of National Leader Heydar Aliyev.
"Independence is the greatest gift, the greatest wealth. Today, all of us Azerbaijanis proudly celebrate that we live as an independent country in the truest sense of the word."    
Security is ensured in Azerbaijan, peace prevails in Azerbaijan. Now I want to say again that wars, clashes, and conflicts prevail in every part of the world, we see this every day. Azerbaijan is an island of stability, an island of security. This is also a great wealth, and the Azerbaijani people know this well. Because we faced difficult times in the first years of our independence.
All freedoms are provided in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan is a democratic country. People in Azerbaijan live freely. Representatives of all peoples and all confessions live in Azerbaijan as one family. This is an example in the world, and not only me, but many others, namely experts, politicians, statesmen, and heads of international organizations who are closely involved in this issue, note this point. This unique atmosphere reinforces our country today. Here, in the center of the city of Shusha, where I am standing today, I want to state this once again: we have stood here today thanks to the blood and lives of all the peoples living in Azerbaijan. This is a great wealth. But there are countries where conflicts and clashes occur on national and religious grounds. There are several countries where no representative of any other nation can live, for example Armenia. Armenia, whose population is 99.9 percent Armenian, actually demonstrates its fascist policy with this figure. But, there was a time when the majority of the population of present-day Armenia was Azerbaijanis, and representatives of other nations were also present. Now, in some European countries, countries that are very sympathetic to Armenia, Islamophobia is on the rise, laws are being passed, ugly acts are being committed against our religion, the "Holy Quran" is being burned, and they are indifferent to this. "So, by saying these words, I want to say once again that the atmosphere we have is unique. This is our way of life and at the same time, this is our policy, this is our power. That's how it is today, and it will be like this in the future. But in this case, we can continue to live comfortably, we can build our own future."