Ilham Aliyev: Not economy or foreign policy, main thing are martyrs

Political News

14:01 | 29.01.2019

Ilham Aliyev: Not economy or foreign policy, main thing are martyrs

'Caring for the families of martyrs proved itself anew last year. In April 2018, the Azerbaijani people again trusted me, electing me to the presidency. And my first decree was on strengthening the social protection of martyrs' families,' said Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev during his speech at a meeting with the families of martyrs at the Presidential Palace.

'Of course, this is not an accident. I could sign a decree on any area: economy, foreign policy, social issues. But I decided that the first decree should be connected with the families of the martyrs. This decree provides for the state to allocate lump sums in the amount of 11,000 manats to almost 10,000 families of martyrs. I repeat once again: I don't want to compare Azerbaijan with any country, but it's also true that Azerbaijan has become an example for many countries in this area,' said President Ilham Aliyev.

'Payments have already begun. As I was informed, more than three thousand families of martyrs received 11 thousand manats each. However, in the course of this process, it was revealed that the amount of benefits received by the citizens at one time does not coincide with the amount currently paid. That is, in those years - in the early 1990s, the figure was large - at that time it was estimated at 50,000 manats - but the then 50,000 manats cannot even be compared with the current 11,000 manats.

I expressed my opinion to the public on this issue. I stated that this question should be seriously studied, and two main factors should prevail here: law and justice. On the one hand, citizens who previously received this allowance cannot be included in this list, as required by law and regulations. On the other hand, we must resolve all issues with fairness, approach all issues through the lens of social justice.

Given this, I signed a new decree today, according to which the number of citizens who receive 11,000 manats has been increased by 2,725 people. Among them are citizens who once received allowance in smaller amounts, and in general, representatives of the families of martyrs of the internal affairs agencies who were not on the list at all, their number exceeds 460 people.

Of course, this requires a lot of money. It is planned to allocate 135 million manats from the state budget for the implementation of this program. This is a fairly large amount. We try to ensure that each amount is approached carefully. We are trying to provide great support to the directions that determine the economic and social development of our country.

But I have always said that the welfare of the citizens of Azerbaijan, their material well-being is our main duty. Therefore, first of all, the adoption of this decision is fair, and on the other hand, after the presidential decree, it comes into force as an official document. We provided both of these factors,' said the head of state.

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