The official opening of the Week of Azerbaijan took place today at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. The event was organized by the Azerbaijan Club of MGIMO. It has been in preparation for two years and became possible with the support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation in Russia.
The club's chairman, Jeyhun Huseynov, spoke about its history and activities: "The Azerbaijani Club was founded in 2004 on the initiative of Leyla Aliyeva, who is currently the honorary chairman of the Azerbaijani Club. The structure of the club includes 80 activists. Our main activity is carrying out events about Azerbaijan, as well as introducing Azerbaijani culture, history and cuisine to students of the Russian Federation and MGIMO. It is an honor for us that we are ambassadors of our country in the walls of such a diplomatic university, a forge of diplomats and journalists."
Acting vice-rector of MGIMO for General Affairs, Artem Malgin, told Vestnik Kavkaza that "The MGIMO Azerbaijani Club is the rise. And we see that they have much greater propensity to have such a serious dialogue. If 10-15 years ago, when basic stabilization in the country and in society appeared, these student clubs were primarily circles for friendly informal communication, now we see that the quality of Azerbaijani students has increased seriously, a huge number of children, who are studying for postgraduate degrees, have appeared. At the same time, those are not just Moscow's Azerbaijanis, but guys who come after Azerbaijani universities, or sometimes foreign universities, to Moscow. They have completely different experiences. They have the opportunity to share some different views with their younger comrades, students. I stopped by several sections, they amazed me with the level of discussion. And I would like to emphasize that, despite the fact that this is the Week of Azerbaijan, the students are intentionally conducting everything in Russian. So that both internal Azerbaijani debate and discussion with their colleagues from other countries is clear to the widest possible audience."
A day of the history of Azerbaijan was held in the framework of the 'Week of Azerbaijan', at which the professor of Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Solmaz Rustamova-Togidi, and the famous economist, Philip Nobel, the great-grandson of Alfred Nobel, who spoke about the history of his family in Azerbaijan, read their lectures.
Answering the question of Vestnik Kavkaza about how he sees the prospects of Azerbaijan, Nobel said: "I have a firm confidence in the government of Azerbaijan, in how they cope with the economic situation. They had problems in the past, but they always coped with them, so I am very positive about it. Indeed, today the situation is restless, but I'm sure they will be able to cope with it. I manage the Nobel Academy and I hope that sooner or later we will show ourselves in Azerbaijan, in the cradle of the Nobel family. This is my dream and I hope that in a few years everything will work out."
