Azernews.Az

BAKU – President Ilham Aliyev has called on Azerbaijani citizens to more vigorously combat corruption and urged more public oversight.

President Aliyev said that his orders on fighting graft issued during a cabinet meeting in January have been fulfilled.

"I am asking all citizens of Azerbaijan to inform the Presidential Administration and other relevant bodies as well as local executive authorities about all undesirable cases, any injustice and baseless demands, so that we can eliminate these shortfalls, cure these wounds," he said during a visit to the western Gazakh region on Wednesday.

Aliyev also hailed the government's efforts to improve living standards, saying the minimum wage and basic pensions increased in 2010.

"The average wage in Azerbaijan is over $400. But, I repeat, we can’t be satisfied with that. All our efforts should be directed at [ensuring] a better life for Azerbaijani citizens."

Regarding the poverty issue, the president said the poverty level in the country has dropped four-fold in the past seven years, but the current rate of 9 percent is still too high.

Aliyev said over 900,000 jobs, including up to 700,000 permanent positions, have been opened in Azerbaijan since 2003, the year he was elected president. "Unemployment has been largely eliminated, but it is still there," he added.

Ramiz Mehdiyev, the head of the presidential administration, convened an anticorruption commission in late January, after which several ministries held sessions devoted to corruption.

Several officials and public servants have been sacked as part of the drive.