Yesterday, during the graduation ceremony of the first bachelors, the ADA University organized a celebration "Citizenship and Social Responsibility: heroes are never forgotten" in the Gulustan Palace. The First Lady of Azerbaijan, the President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, Mehriban Aliyeva, came to congratulate the students on their graduation. She recalled her first visit to this university: "In 2012, together with the head of our state, we participated in the opening ceremony of this new educational complex. I'm glad that in such a short time the Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy managed to achieve rapid development. Several new faculties started their work - business management, international relations, education management, engineering, information technologies, and finally, the academy turned into the ADA University."
Indeed, despite the fact that the ADA University is fairly young, compared to many other universities in Azerbaijan, it already has great credibility and respect. The educational level of the ADA University corresponds to the highest international standards. The professors of the ADA University are citizens of about forty countries, as well as representatives of Azerbaijani youth, who worked at leading universities and higher educational institutions of the world.
"The atmosphere of this university is a continuation of the traditions of tolerance, friendship and mutual respect, preserved and supported in Azerbaijan for centuries. Naturally, young people who received an education in this atmosphere will respect the cultural diversity of the world and build relations with people and nations based on mutual respect," Mehriban Aliyeva believes.
While expressing gratitude to all of those who took part in the formation of this university, its transformation into a modern educational institution, she said: "You are the spiritual and intellectual potential of our country. You played a major role in the fact that young people became morally healthy, literate, educated, skilled citizens."
The First Lady also expressed her gratitude to the rector of the ADA University, Professor Hafiz Pashayev. His political, scientific and public activity has served only one purpose – the strengthening and development of Azerbaijan. Hafiz Pashayev himself stated that he is happy in connection with the graduation of the first bachelors in the Gulustan Palace, which hosted the signing of the 'Contract of the Century' in 1994. In this palace Heydar Aliyev laid the foundation of modern Azerbaijan, a decision on using 'black gold' for strengthening the country's independence was signed here, Hafiz Pashayev noted.
According to Mehriban Aliyeva, the strength of any nation depends not on its natural resources, but, above all, on the intellectual potential: "A nation with strong intellectual potential is already a winner. If we look at today's world, we can see that the countries where attention is paid to science, education, technologies, where there is a development of these fields, are truly developed countries. That is why after the restoration of Azerbaijan's independence, attention to this field, the development of education and science, became one of the priorities in our state's policy. The activities of the ADA University are also the result of these reforms."
Investments in the education system are considered to be the most effective and reasonable. That is why among the projects funded by the State Oil Fund, which have strategic importance, there are projects related to education, although the Fund mostly invests in energy, transport and infrastructure projects. The State Oil Fund also finances the 'State Program on education of Azerbaijani youth abroad'. Thousands of Azerbaijani students have already received educations in leading universities of the world.
Mehriban Aliyeva said that Azerbaijanis respect their history, culture and traditions and the cultural diversity of the world. "We are a multi-ethnic, multi-religious country. We are not trying to take the lands or cultural heritage of any other state. We only want to defend our land, our independence ... In early April, our brave sons became martyrs for the sake of their homeland. The successes achieved, thanks to their heroism, filled the hearts of all Azerbaijanis with a sense of pride. The entire nation experienced inspiration ... They will never be forgotten. From this point of view, the scholarship program 'For the Homeland', established by the ADA University today, is a very important initiative and a noble step," Mehriban Aliyeva stated
