Institute of Asian and African Countries hosts Nasimi Festival

In the framework of the Festival of Poetry, Art and Spirituality, the Institute of Asian and African Countries of the Moscow State University hosted the Nasimi Festival. This event is dedicated to works of one of the most brilliant poets and thinkers of the East, Imadaddin Nasimi (1369-1417). Speakers spoke about his role in the development of Azerbaijani poetry and his contribution to world culture and literature.

Director of the Institute of Asian and African Countries of the MSU, Igor Abylgaziyev, said that he welcomes all participants and guests of the festival, dedicated to the anniversary of great Azerbaijani poet, Nasimi, whose 650th birthday will be celebrated next year.

"President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, signed a decree on celebrating this anniversary at the state level. This anniversary is currently celebrated at the international level. Nasimi’s works are among the most advanced examples of world poetry, they celebrate greatness of man, individual freedom. Nasimi’s heritage represents unity of deep poetic thoughts and philosophical views, they clearly express scientific and philosophical thinking of his time," he said.

"Nasimi's heritage has a special place in the history of Azerbaijani literature. This unforgettable poet has enriched Azerbaijani poetry with ideas of humanism and new content. Nasimi was obviously inspired by people's spirit. His diversity of his works demonstrates semantic capabilities of the medieval Azerbaijani language. His creativity had an important impact on the development of social thought of many nations of the world," he stressed.

"Our festival was organized with the support of vice-president of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, Leyla Aliyeva. Taking this opportunity, I would like to express my and my institute's sincere gratitude to her for the help she provided to us," he said.

Azerbaijani Ambassador to Russia, Polad Bulbuloglu, expressed gratitude to Igor Abylgaziyev for opportunity to hold such large-scale events dedicated to the great Azerbaijani poet in his theinstitute.

"Values that Nasimi promoted through his ideology are relevant even now. They will be relevant for many centuries, because they are really philosophical, they are really proper. It's very important for today's young people to know about values that our ancestors lived by," diplomat stressed.

Ambassador recalled that today the MGIMO, at the initiative of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, opened a bust of Nasimi. "It's very symbolic that today's students will look at this bust. Those who know who he is will read even more of his works, and those who don't know him at all will ask why does this great man has a bust, and will then learn more about him," he believes.

"It's also very remarkable that today's event is held at your institute, which studies eastern countries, and even teaches Azerbaijani language to students. We're proud that your students are learning Azerbaijani language and speak it quite well," he concluded.