by Vestnik Kavkaza
In the conference hall of the hotel "Ukraine" in Moscow a photo exhibition has been opened "Heydar Aliyev. Unknown photos", dedicated to the memory of the prominent statesman and national leader Heydar Aliyev. At the exhibition organized by the Embassy of Azerbaijan in Russia, pictures were exhibited related to the period in the life of the famous politician when he was first deputy chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR.
Polad Bulbuloglu, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Azerbaijan to Russia
Heydar Aliyev was a prominent public and political figure, not only in our Azerbaijan, both as a sovereign country and in Soviet times, but he also was quite prominent and well-known in the Soviet Union. As you know, he was a member of the Politburo, he was the first deputy chairman of the Council of Ministers, but few now remember that he was the chairman of the State Commission for the Baikal-Amur Railway, which was considered the construction of the century. And, indeed, the entire Soviet Union, the whole country was involved in this construction, and even I as an artist also helped the people who worked there, because every year I performed at the BAM. Then we considered it a great honor, pride, we were warmly received there, we went there with pleasure. But the fact is that one of the people who took part in this world was actually Heydar Aliyev.
And suddenly, quite by accident, we learned that earlier in Irkutsk and now in Nizhny Novgorod lived a photographer, Valery Karasev. We learned that he had unique original photos, and he kept them. So we asked him to give these negatives to the Azerbaijani Embassy in the Russian Federation, and he did it. Of course, we are very grateful to him, because it is a page in the history not only of the Azerbaijani people, but also of the Soviet Union. Of course, the expedition was probably accompanied by a photographer from TASS and probably by special photographers from the Kremlin. But he was working for a newspaper, and for the whole journey that took place in 1984 he accompanied Heydar Aliyev on the route. In general, there are more than a thousand pictures in these negatives. Of course, it is impossible to exhibit all the photos, so we decided to select some part to show it to you and make a presentation. After that, these negatives will be donated to Heydar Aliyev Foundation, and I think that they will decide what to do with them – maybe they will be published as a separate book or as a separate historical opus.
Valery Karasev, journalist, author of the photographs
I should probably begin with the fact that the most wonderful time for young people is when they have something to do. When I was much younger, we had the opportunity to express ourselves, and many demonstrated their personalities at the BAM. This structure has made the names and good impressions of lots of people. But for me as a journalist it was interesting to meet the wonderful people at a high state level. One of them was Heydar Aliyev. He was a statesman, a very interesting man, very charming, very attentive, a person who knew how to listen to people, who could at a critical moment make important and correct decisions, so that as a journalist I was quite surprised... I’ll give you an example. At one of the meetings there was a question: well, the rails are connected, what is next? There are a lot of people who should work. And at the meeting Heydar Aliyev began to speak and suddenly said: "You know what? Let's use all the forces that we have today and all the equipment, and continue the construction to the north, in the direction of Yakutia. And what do you think? Yes, indeed, then, after a while, the construction began in the direction of Berkakit, then - to Yakutia. Today, the railroad already exists. I think this was a wise decision by Heydar Aliyev.
Today, our living is provided by oil. Our future will be provided by the BAM. Everything is there: oil, gas, copper ore, which go directly to the surface. Let’s take the region of Chary. Everyone knows the famous gemstone – charoite. So here, in many cities already, and in Moscow, we all walk on the pavement - in Chary people walk on charoite. The residents say, we've got a cold climate, there is a lot of snow, this is not true. But this is true. The BAM is our future. And many good people participated in the creation of the BAM, and I also went there. And Heydar Aliyev with his wise decisions was a member of the state commission. I think this played a good role. The photos placed on the stands are photographs of the BAM. I was able to take pictures completely from Ust-Kut to Vladivostok by chance: the TASS correspondent missed the plane of Heydar Aliyev, and I was asked to replace him. They said, "Can you go with us?" I agreed. In short, I was in the team. Today you look at these pictures: they are more than 20 years old, I mean the negatives. This year, in 2012, I arrived here with my grandson - he entered the university, MSU, I hope he will be very good in cybernetics. I had free time, and I went to the embassy of Azerbaijan. I said: "I have a few dozen negatives, when I was with the Heydar Aliyev at the BAM." They said, "How? What? "In short, they were interested and asked me to do reserve copies. I have done them, and they are shown here. I have given these negatives to the Embassy, and if they find a way to dispose of them, I think it will be a very decent, nice memory of Heydar Aliyev.
Ilnar Hajiyev, head of the Moscow regional branch of the WAC
Today we see in these photos how much work was actually done by Heydar Aliyev. Day and night he was with the team in various sectors at the BAM and saw plants and factories being opened... And, of course, once again we see that Heydar Aliyev in the history of the Soviet Union has always been one of the leaders that are never lazy for a minute and work for the benefit of a large country. Today, we are pleased that Heydar Aliyev, working in that great country, the Soviet Union, managed to restore the Republic of Azerbaijan. Today, as they say, he is the architect of the new Azerbaijan, and we are very pleased that today Ilham Aliyev continues this course. Azerbaijan is built today thanks to Ilham Aliyev, like Russia was built with the participation of his father.
Yefim Pivovar, Rector of RSUH
We learn more about this indubitably amazing personality who was the national leader of the Azerbaijani people, Heydar Aliyev, and he becomes an even more multi-faceted figure in this story. As a historian, I want to say that photographs have always been one of the most important elements of historical analysis. Heydar Aliyev played a key role in all phases of his activities as national leader of Azerbaijan, but he played a very important role in the history of the Soviet Union, the whole country. These photos are another sign of his tireless, effective labor, and this it is not his fault that much of what was done then did not work as it should. This man by his work and his actions, no doubt, intended to ensure that the result would be positive. All the photos, all of his meetings with people in all different parts of our great country are further evidence of this. This is a chronicle of actions and deeds, which once again brings us back to that era, to his activities as a state leader. Of course, this experience became useful when Aliyev became the head of the country. A man with tremendous experience as head of his country and understanding of people has become in charge of the state. It is a very rare occasion to have a leader with experience in this country and all over the world to become in charge. Azerbaijan was lucky that it had such a leader and that it is continued by his son, which is no less essential. I believe that this is the secret of success.
