NEWTIMES

The campaign of slur, slander and fabrications against Azerbaijan is ongoing in some media outlets in Europe. Two Belgian newspapers have recently joined the race. In their publications they have attacked the judge of Belgium's Constitutional Court Jean-Paul Moerman for the veracity of his remarks on Azerbaijan. Illogical as it may seem, the European media is accusing Moerman of pro-Azerbaijan bias. Mr. Moerman's truthful remarks concerning the Khojaly genocide, Armenia's aggression and indifference of the international community were not met with objectivity. There is seemingly a euphoria in the West that whenever anything positive is said of Azerbaijan it must certainly be refuted. And that absolutely defies any legal or moral boundaries.

On 10-11 September 2017, in Astana, Republic of Kazakhstan, The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) hold its first science and technology summit at the level of head of state and government. Astana Summit witnessed a historic milestone as it evolved a unified collective position at the highest levels of decision-making in OIC Member States with a view to advancing the different fields of science, technology and innovation, while emphasizing the Muslim world's resolve to promote scientific and technical development. The Summit was important as it underscored the Member States' support for scientific fields by demonstrating the Muslim world's knowledge contributions away from the negative stereotypes that have become widespread recently.

Here it goes again. Certain media outlets and pseudo-organizations have launched the next anti-Azerbaijan campaign. This time around their primary target is the President of Azerbaijan and his family. They have come up with bogus figures, alleging that some clandestine money transactions were made and act as if those allegations are backed by solid facts. But we all know that the song is old. They just added some new verses to it. Each time that Azerbaijan moves forward with an undertaking of international relevance, the envious ones resort to all sorts of fabrications. All of that is done against the backdrop of impotence and inaction of the Armenian authorities. While Azerbaijan has been very energetic on the international scene in the recent month Yerevan did nothing but complain and implore for help. To no avail by the way; those efforts cannot undermine Azerbaijan's posture. The rapid development and reforms across all areas will continue. The people of the country rally around the nation's leader. And given the enormous historical experience, the society cherishes the value of the independent statehood.

The problems faced by the European Union in the past few years encouraged the emergence of several scenarios for the bloc`s future. Experts give different forecasts, with many of them being pessimistic. Leaders of the 27 states who gathered in Rome to celebrate the European Union`s 60th anniversary signed the Rome Declaration. The document features a number of interesting points relating to the future of the organization. A deeper look at the declaration reveals that the EU is, in fact, on the verge of new transformations. But the main point here is that there is considerable uncertainty about the essence of these changes. The reason is that the European Union is now facing serious problems.

The problems faced by the European Union in the past few years encouraged the emergence of several scenarios for the bloc`s future. Experts give different forecasts, with many of them being pessimistic. Leaders of the 27 states who gathered in Rome to celebrate the European Union`s 60th anniversary signed the Rome Declaration. The document features a number of interesting points relating to the future of the organization. A deeper look at the declaration reveals that the EU is, in fact, on the verge of new transformations. But the main point here is that there is considerable uncertainty about the essence of these changes. The reason is that the European Union is now facing serious problems.

The Globalization and transformations on the international scene as well as within the societies in individual countries, provoked by such processes, are most certainly among the major challenges of our times. Ultimately, the globalization is about universal values, multicultural environment, tolerance towards the differences and astronomic speed of the processes and developments. Therefore, those aspects cannot but be reflected in the new world order.

There are mutual Islamic inheritor and full cooperation and coordination between two countries to serve the interests of two governments, which means a source of pride for all of us. And all of these thanks to the full attention and care of His Excellency President Ilham Aliyev and the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud.

25 years of diplomatic relations between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Azerbaijan as independent states is quiet a short historical period, but still it is marked by rich and fruitful experience.

Few days ago, the 4th Islamic Solidarity Games ended. A total of 2,800 athletes from more than 50 Islamic countries, including apart from Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Benin, Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Comoros, Côte d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Suriname, Syria, Tajikistan, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Yemen came together from 12 to 22 May 2017 to represent their nations over 10 days of competition across 20 different sports.

Experts are analyzing the outcome of the presidential election in Iran, with main emphasis made on possible geopolitical repercussions of Hassan Rouhani`s re-election. Some of them say Rouhani`s assuming the second term means Iran will take a softer stand. A reformist, Rouhani wants Iran to be more open to the world. Other experts believe that Tehran will strengthen global economic competition. They see Iran as a tough opponent for the West. Therefore, risks will remain in relations with Iran. Others look at the situation through a prism of Iran`s internal political realities. Reforms in Iran may change the situation, allowing the country to play a more active role on the international scene, which will contribute to stability. These issues seem to be thought-provoking against a background of Donald Trump`s Middle East tour. In this context, it would be interesting to analyze how the geopolitical situation may change in the region.