Yesterday, the World Trade Center in Moscow hosted the VI Forum of the Azerbaijani Youth Association of Russia 'AMOR: For the sake of decent future of youth.' The participants in the forum – activists of the regional divisions of AMOR, representatives of the Azerbaijani diaspora and youth organizations of Russia – worked in sections titled 'Azerbaijan and challenges of new time', 'İDEA – One Earth – One Future', 'Become an ambassador of justice', 'Development of tourism and regional studies as a means of patriotic and moral education of youth' , 'Career development of young people: business and ways leading to success.'
The Vice-President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, Leyla Aliyeva, explained that "this conference is held to unite the youth, help them integrate into Russian society. Today, departments of AMOR operate in more than 70 regions of Russia. Of course, I am very pleased that the youth themselves are showing great enthusiasm."
"We are glad to welcome you to our hospitable and sunny city. It does not happen often, but today it just cannot be otherwise, because look at how many beautiful, kind, really energetic hearts and souls have gathered in this hall. It is your power which influenced the fact that a truly warm autumn sun shines over the city on October 31. Moscow blooms. Moscow is a dynamically developing city. Everyone can see it today. It is very nice. We have a motto – "Moscow is the best city in the world!" Today I listened to everyone carefully. I want to make adjustments. Moscow and Baku are two of the best cities on Earth!" the head of the Department of Media and Advertising of Moscow Vladimir Chernikov said.
The Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Russia, Polad Bulbuloglu, called the holding of the Sixth Forum of AMOR a milestone in the life of the youth organization: "Representatives of those who live in the regions and those living in Moscow have gathered from across vast Russia. Today there were very interesting speeches from the vice-speakers of the State Duma, vice-speakers of the Federation Council, State Duma committee chairmen, representatives of the Moscow authorities, representatives of the Russian president, rectors, our ministers. I was pleased not only with the level of speeches, but also with the reaction of the audience to these speeches. In general, the level of events is growing, and so does the level of the youth who participate in these forums. It cannot but please us. We tell young people that today is a difficult time, problematic, we must be careful, you have to study hard, you have to win your place in life. The speeches sounded the idea that Azerbaijan and Russia are close countries, close peoples who historically have proven their closeness. And today there is a new commonality of people who continue to interact on new bases, on new platforms. I believe that this forum was a success, it is a very important milestone in the life of the youth organization."
The rector of the Russian State Humanitarian University, Yefim Pivovar, said that AMOR is strengthening, increasing the number of participants, the program of the forum is becoming even more diverse. "For me as a rector it is extremely important that the students of our university and other universities, Azerbaijanis, have every opportunity to go to university, get a higher education. We need to do everything possible for it. As board chairman of the Society of Friendship with Azerbaijan, I understand that AMOR is one of our platforms, because young guys, who are studying in our universities, our schools, are the basis for the strengthening of friendship between Russia and Azerbaijan. They, on the one hand, represent Russian universities and schools, and on the other hand, are proud of their roots, do not want to lose their identity, the connection with the homeland of their ancestors. Often they have some relatives in Azerbaijan and Russia. It is a human bridge which we must strengthen, and that gives us confidence in the future," Pivovar said.
The head of the Duma Committee on CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Ties with Compatriots, Leonid Slutsky, reminded that "Azerbaijan, over more than 20 years of our common modern history, walked a very difficult path. The founder of today's modern Azerbaijani state, the great Heydar Aliyev, said that Azerbaijan and Russia should always be together. Azerbaijan coped with the hardest tasks, though many people in the former Soviet Union and in the world thought that Azerbaijan would not be able to cope with them. This is a program in the fight against poverty, which was founded on the heritage of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, because more than a million internally displaced persons appeared in the country. And the fact that Azerbaijan became an energy-independent state, and much more. All of this determined the look of today's Azerbaijan as one of the most prosperous countries and prosperous economies far beyond the borders of former Soviet Union. But, most importantly, our young people, those who will come after us and will be able to continue our work. No nation, no country in the post-Soviet space has such a powerful and stable youth association in Russia."
Slutsky expressed special words of gratitude to Leyla Aliyeva and said that Heydar Aliyev would be proud of his granddaughter: "Leyla is a very humble person, like her parents, she did not list all the activities of the association today, but this activity is truly versatile and very effective. Education, sport, a number of humanitarian projects, which are significant far beyond the Azerbaijani community, significant for the whole of Russia. It is being multiplied from year to year. Today we are holding the sixth forum. This is a significant feature in the activities of the association. Initiatives arise today, and tomorrow they are already being successfully implemented. We are proud that we are related to the support of young people, Azerbaijanis, who are so active in today's Russia, they carry out such large-scale humanitarian projects. And this is only the beginning. Our countries are young democracies, but our countries have already gone through a number of very serious challenges, including in our bilateral relations, and proved to ourselves and to the world that Russia and Azerbaijan will always and forever be together."
Slutsky reminded about projects which have been successfully implemented in Azerbaijan: "The first European Olympic Games opened a new chapter in the global Olympic Movement. Five or ten years ago few people believed, including the people who create today's Olympic Movement, that this project will be successful, and certainly very few people thought that it would be Baku that will do it better than anyone on this planet. We are witnesses of how a new movement has been created in the global Olympic Movement, which soon became a significant part of the Olympic Games of the 21st century. Many thanks to all those who are involved in this incredible and very effective project, and first of all, to my friend, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, and Sports Minister Azad Rahimov, and many others. There was nothing to complain about. And it was just like that before, at the Eurovision. I will not enumerate all the projects. An hour later, me and my brother [the deputy chairman of the Federation Council] Ilyas Umakhanov (and our brotherhood is stronger from the fact that we both love Azerbaijan) will fly to Baku [to observe the parliamentary elections on November 1st].
Speaking about the political situation in Azerbaijan, Slutsky noted: "Yes, there are opponents. Opponents who have bothered us with their jaded templates. No wonder the delegation of the so-called Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, ODIHR, refused to go to the elections to the Milli Majlis. Why did they refuse? My answer is very simple. Because there is nothing to complain about. There are no negative things, which they wanted to impart to the world community. Those who searched for negativity at various events in Baku are, unfortunately, exhausted. There are no places where you can find it. It does not exist. There are only positive, progressive things. I think that on Monday, we, the representatives of different observation missions, will be able to tell the world community about the elections to the Milli Majlis, that those are exemplary elections for the whole world."
According to Slutsky, "Azerbaijan is characterized by a developed parliamentary branch of government. Today, the Milli Majlis plays a major role in the life of the modern state. It solves very difficult tasks, both political and economic, helping the president. I am confident that the brotherly people of Azerbaijan will elect a new, very strong, progressive Milli Majlis, of which the Azerbaijan nation and all of us will be very proud. We live in a very difficult time. When our common "strategic friends" are doing everything to slander, distort the image of modern Russia, modern Azerbaijan in the global information space and global political space. But these attempts (as the experience of the ODIHR shows) are doomed to failure, because our peoples, our countries and our youth will always be together.
