Interview with the deputy head of the history faculty of MSU, editor-in-chief of Vestnik Kavkaza, Alexei Vlasov, by Novosti-Azerbaijan.
- 2012 is the Year of History in Russia. We heard that the history faculty of MSU is holding events devoted to this date not only in Russia, but also in other CIS countries. Does the administration of the faculty have plans for joint projects with their Azerbaijani colleagues?
- 2012 is connected with many anniversary dates of Russian history. The 1150th anniversary of Ancient Rus’s foundation. The 200th anniversary of victory in the Patriotic War of 1812. 400 years since the liberation of Moscow from Polish invaders in 1612. These are only some of the events, which are connected not only with Russia, but also with our friends and neighbors in the South Caucasus and Central Asia. The head of the history faculty of MSU, Sergey Karpov, signed an order on organization of joint arrangements with five countries: Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Belarus. Considering the close ties between the history faculty of MSU and Azerbaijani historians, I think the general interest in maintenance of the common historic space will have a new impulse in 2012. Our delegation, which is visiting Baku at the moment, has a video-address by Sergey Karpov to Azerbaijani historians and alumni of the history faculty of MSU, who play a significant role in Azerbaijani science, culture, policy and the media-sphere today. I think any anniversary is a good reason for defining new points of growth in relations between the two countries. The history faculty has great relations with the Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan, with the historic faculty of BSU; the Heydar Aliyev Fund and our information partners – Trend, Novosti-Azerbaijan, Interfax-Azerbaijan - provide great support for joint projects. During our two-day visit to Baku we plan to conduct several meetings and presentations and define certain plans for the second half of 2012.
- What other Russian educational and scientific centers are participating in joint humanitarian programs with Azerbaijani historians?
- First of all, I would like to mention the Russian State University for the Humanities. The head of RDUH, Efim Pivovar, is one of those Russian scientists who contributed to forming special instruments for maintaining the common historic space between our countries. As far as I know, he is preparing a big work on Russian-Azerbaijani relations, which will be published in the near future. I think it is a very important political scientific relevant work. Ismail Agakishiev contributes a lot to development of relations, he is one of the initiators of the Center for Contemporary Caucasiology in MSU and RSUH. Due to his energy and patience a visit of MSU students to Baku took place in May 2011. I would like to express gratitude to members of the Heydar Aliyev Fund. Cooperation and integration of various educational institutes and scientific schools guarantee the success of wide-scale projects.
- Next year we have one more great date – the anniversary of the national leader of Azerbaijan, Heydar Aliyev. Does the Russian academic community plan any arrangements devoted to this date?
- Of course, Heydar Aliev was a man and politician who played a great role not only in history of Azerbaijan, but in our common Soviet history. 20 years have passed since the collapse of the Soviet Union, and now the importance of his personality is understood clearly. I believe that such politicians as Aliyev, Masherov and Nazarbayev were needed at the moment when the top authorities of the USSR had led the great country to ruin. I listed politicians who played a special role in the life of an ethnic republic, but the weakening of the administrations of the USSR republics reflected negatively on the fate of the whole Soviet Union. For me, the life story of Heydar Aliev is not only the history of Azerbaijan. This is the story of an era of transition, including life in Russia. Even though many books have been written about him and movies were shot, the mystery of Heydar Aliyev’s personality hasn’t been discovered yet. So not only Azerbaijan, but also Russia will celebrate his anniversary in 2013. One of the topics for discussion at the Baku conference is devoted to the life and activity of this outstanding man.
Novosti-Azerbaijan
