By Vestnik Kavkaza
December 31 was declared the Day of Solidarity of Azerbaijanis in 1991. In the world there are tens of millions of Azerbaijanis, and not only in their homeland, but also in Iran, Turkey, the CIS countries, Germany, France, Great Britain, the Scandinavian countries, the USA and the Middle East. But the biggest Azerbaijani diaspora lives in Russia.
Yesterday in Moscow, the Azerbaijani embassy together with the All-Russian Azerbaijani Congress and the Moscow mayor's office held a grand reception, which was attended by representatives of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, community and youth organizations, figures of politics, culture, science and art of Azerbaijan and Russia.
According to the Azerbaijani ambassador to Moscow Polad Bulbuloglu, "December 31 is the day of unity of World Azerbaijanis . And we in Moscow (this has become a good tradition) celebrate this wonderful holiday. Today the event was attended by representatives of the diaspora from many regions of Russia. All are very friendly and come with a great feeling, trying not to lose touch with their compatriots. Russia is very large, and we are glad they find time and come to us . "
The head of Azerbaijani cultural and educational center of school 157, Korkmaz Akhundov, told VK: «As for the Day of Solidarity of Azerbaijanis, the first time I encountered this holiday was in Nakhichevan, when the people broke the border between Azerbaijan and Iran. ( This is about the events on the territory of the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic, when on December 31, 1989, thousands of Azerbaijanis literally demolished many border fences on the Soviet-Iranian border and crossed the Arax River, inspired by the first possibility in many decades of uniting with their compatriots in Iran. Later, Heydar Aliyev, who was then chairman of the Supreme Majlis of the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic, proclaimed December 31 the Day of World Azerbaijanis Solidarity - ed.). Thereafter, Nakhichevan TV announced the Day of Solidarity of World Azerbaijanis. So since this day our leader, the national leader Heydar Aliyev, when he was in Nakhichevan, announced this holiday nationwide, Azerbaijan's national holiday . "
Director of the Azerbaijani cultural center in Moscow Nissa Mustafayeva congratulated Azerbaijanis on Solidarity Day and on the New Year: "I want to congratulate all my compatriots; I wish them new achievements, health and well-being. The year for us was full of events. This year, we elected our new president, Ilham Aliyev. And with him, under his leadership,we will go to new achievements in the new year. Happy New Year! "
Meanwhile, it is well-known that the Russian diaspora in Azerbaijan is also large. "For more than 200 years Russians have lived in Azerbaijan", Mikhail Zabelin, head of the Russian community of Azerbaijan, Milli Majlis deputy, told VK."About 5 years ago we wrote the book "The Russian People in the History of Azerbaijan", which describes the period when the Russians came to Azerbaijan. A lot of great Russian names are associated with Azerbaijan. Now I'm not going to list these names. That attitude to the Russian people, which has developed over the centuries, has now strengthened, and it is not destroyed. Many people somehow believe that Russians feel uncomfortable about living in Azerbaijan. All the schools with Russian language of instruction, which were once in Azerbaijan, continue to function. If we had three churches before, now we have five churches in Azerbaijan, these are Russian Orthodox churches. There are newspapers and magazines in Russian. I will tell you that communication even mostly occurs in Russian. We could lose this without Heydar Aliyev, without his coming to power for a second time in Azerbaijan. For the first time in the history of a Muslim state, not an Islamic one, namely a Muslim state, he gathered Russians on Christmas in 1994 and said: "You should not go anywhere! You are citizens of Azerbaijan. And I, as the president, am responsible for enforcing your rights." The Russians trusted him and did not leave the country. And thank God that the current president continues the course of Heydar Aliyev. And the current president is doing everything possible so that Russians can consider themselves fully-fledged citizens of Azerbaijan".
