Ilham Aliyev Sworn In As Azerbaijan’s President

With three-color Azerbaijan flag on his left and right, and his right hand on the Constitution book, Ilham Aliyev took the oath of office as the president of the Caspian country at the flamboyant hall of the building of Azerbaijan’s parliament on Wednesday.

“I do swear that I will obey the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan, protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country [and] serve the people with dignity while fulfilling the duties of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan,” Aliyev said at the inauguration ceremony attended by government officials and family members, as he was sworn in for a new term.

The first phase of the inauguration was finished with Azerbaijan’s national anthem’s sound waving across the lavish palace of the parliament what is called Milli Majlis in Azerbaijan. As the head of a Muslim-majority country President Aliyev then put his hand on the Quran to pledge his loyalty to the national values and traditions of Azerbaijan.

Immediately after assuming the presidency, Aliyev signed an order on the execution of powers of the Cabinet of Ministers, which empowered the current cabinet to fulfill the obligations of government until the new staff of ministers is announced.

On Tuesday the Constitutional Court of Azerbaijan confirmed the results of the presidential election that was held on April 11. Aliyev won by a landslide, with 86.02 percent of the electorate cast their votes in favor of him.

The 2018 victory marks the fourth term for President Aliyev as the head of the largest and strongest country in South Caucasus, which boasts vast oil and gas reserves beneath the Caspian Sea. Azerbaijan was under a big spotlight during Aliyev’s previous term which lasted from 2013 to 2018, when world’s political, energy, transport and sports masterminds gathered in capital Baku.

Elkhan Shahinoglu, Head of the Atlas Research Center in Baku, said during the tenure of President Aliyev, Azerbaijan was applauded by international community for permanent stability against the backdrop of unstable world order.

“There is a war in Syria and Iraq that involved the world’s biggest powers, meant to impact the situation across the world. Our friendly country Ukraine is suffering from unstable internal order and economic hardships. However, Azerbaijan is stayed quite far from such commotions,” Shahinoglu told Caspian News.