Mehriban Aliyeva calls for nationwide mobilization

“Dear fellow countrymen!

Trouble has come to our motherland, to our common home. Unfortunately, the epidemic of the insidious disease has not bypassed our country.

It seems that there is not a single country left on the planet that this pandemic would spare. Entire states have been compelled to isolate themselves from the outside world. The number of people infected with the virus is rapidly approaching a million, the number of lost lives is already in tens of thousands! Every day, the pandemic changes the usual way of life and fills our daily routine with anxiety and apprehension right before our eyes. Many are tormented by the same questions: “Is it really so serious?”, “What is in store for us, what will happen to us?” And the most important question, “When will this epidemic end?” What should each of us do for this “terrible story” to end as soon as possible?

I will be frank: the answers to these questions are difficult, but they are there. First of all, we should all unconditionally acknowledge that the situation is very serious, requires maximum cohesion and consolidation from all of us, from all generations of our citizens. COVID-19 does pose a real threat to the life and health of each of us. Together with you, I pray for the Almighty to protect our native land from misfortune, to divert misfortune from our homes and families! I live with the faith and hope that human genius will definitely stop the pandemic and return to all of us the happiness of a usual life!

The current emergency requires nationwide mobilization. All possible material resources of our state have been mobilized for the fight against the epidemic and its consequences. The best minds of the country, the entire medical science and the whole state mechanism works to save people’s lives. Unprecedented and colossal measures are being taken to defeat the epidemic. Enterprises are quickly switching to production of much-needed medical equipment. Every day, our hospitals are building up their capacity and concentrating their resources to create new wards that would be capable of accommodating all those in need. Life-support services of cities and settlements work on a round-the-clock basis. Law enforcement bodies and rescue services responsible for public order and always ready to help perform their duty in a reliable manner. The country’s servicemen guarding its borders maintain the highest morale. As for our medical workers, doctors, nurses and sanitary workers, they, without any exaggeration, commit a professional and civil feat on a daily basis. All work in the Republic is carried out under close attention, confident leadership and round-the-clock supervision of the President of Azerbaijan!

I believe that the titanic efforts being undertaken by governments and scientists, the billions of dollars, euros and manats that have been invested in the fight against coronavirus will certainly and inevitably lead to the desired result, to our common victory over the epidemic. However, we all must deeply realize that all the efforts and resources may not produce the expected results if these measures and these activities are not underpinned by all of us, literally by each of us, our civic and fundamental human responsibility and our readiness to strictly and unconditionally carry out clear instructions.

Dear fellow countrymen, my dear ones!

I am appealing to you as a daughter, as a wife, as a mother and as a grandmother! I am appealing to you with the hope that you will hear and understand my words coming right from the heart and addressed to each one of you! I ask you to take this as an absolute necessity and duty of each of us – IN THE NEXT 20 DAYS, WE NEED TO BE AT HOME WITH OUR FAMILIES. I ASK YOU NOT TO LEAVE YOUR HOMES UNLESS YOU ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO!

These days, not all of our citizens can afford to comply with the quarantine regime. Thousands of our compatriots are at their posts and working to the limit of their capabilities so that most of our fellow citizens can protect themselves, stay at home and observe the quarantine regime. And our best gratitude to those who are at the forefront of the fight against the coronovirus epidemic today is compliance with the self-isolation regime. The more rigorously and effectively we will abide by it, the sooner our brothers and sisters fighting the epidemic will be able to return to ordinary life and to their families.

I understand how difficult it is to give up the usual way of life, to sit at home without being able to see relatives and friends and sometimes not even be able to hug children and grandchildren. But if we are responsible citizens, if we really love our parents (and I’m sure of that!), if we really value our children and grandchildren, we are obliged – yes we are! – to do this for them! For ourselves! For our homeland!

The tragic experience of several countries has taught mankind lessons on how to formulate the basic principle of survival in the coronavirus pandemic. This principle is dramatically simple and unambiguous: either people strictly follow the rules and regulations of the special quarantine regime and survive together or they ignore the rules and suffer huge human losses. Just think about that –the negligence of just one person can lead to the deaths of dozens of innocent people. I have already written that since COVID-19 is a new virus that is not known to science, the WHO recommendations are situational in nature and are updated as information from around the world is analyzed.

In particular, the latest WHO statements unequivocally say that this infection affects people of all ages and poses a real threat to people of young age too. There are already cases of children dying of the coronavirus infection.

This is exactly why each of us must fully understand the importance of the measures being taken by the state and show maximum civic responsibility. Exactly by carefully supporting each other, showing tolerance and understanding we will be able to pass this terrible test that fate has put us on and save each other for a full life after the victory over the coronavirus, which will definitely come! I believe in this victory! TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF! I LOVE YOU! I BELIEVE IN YOU!

With prayers for everyone,

Your MEHRIBAN.”