Mikhail Zabelin, a member of the Azerbaijani Parliament and a representative of the Russian diaspora in Azerbaijan, told VK about the role of diasporas in both countries.
- What can you say about the role the Azerbaijani diaspora plays in Russian society?
- First of all, I should say that the establishment of the Azerbaijani Congress of Russia and its third meeting was a major event in the life of the Azerbaijani diaspora in Russia. The organization helps to unite the diapora and at the same time to ease Azerbaijani people's integration into Russian society.
A Russian diaspora in Azerbaijan also exists. There are almost 170 thousand Russians in Azerbaijan. I'm the head of the Russian diaspora in Azerbaijan. There are also other diasporas in the country. You see, Azerbaijan is a multi-national country.
- You believe that tolerance is an essential part of Azerbaijani way of life. What does that mean?
- Azerbaijan remained a multi-national country even after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The society is indeed tolerant. There are for instance a lot of Christian churches in Azerbaijan in general and in Baku in particular.
Azerbaijan is facing several problems. There are a lot of refugees from Armenia and Karabakh in the country. That is why the Azerbaijani president signed a decree aimed at protecting ethnic minorities.
- How can you characterise the Russians' position in Azerbaijani society?
- There are a lot of Russian people in Azerbaijan. The number of Russians living here is many times greater than that of other Caucasian states. This means that Russian people face no problems in Azerbaijani society. If they had wanted to leave Azerbaijan, they would have done it long ago. Russian people have a chance to send their children to Russian schools, there many such schools in Azerbaijan. The Russian language develops freely in this country.
Interview by Yevgeny Krishtalyov. Exclusively to VK
The role of diasporas
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