Ramil Bakhtizin: "Russia and Azerbaijan are very close in their understanding of situation in the world"

Yesterday Baku hosted the 12th Azerbaijan International Education Exhibition. Rector of the Ufa State Oil Technical University, chairman of the Coucil of Rectors of Bashkortostan, co-chairman of the Association of Universities of Russia and Azerbaijan, Ramil Bakhtizin, discussed Russian-Azerbaijani cooperation in education in an interview with Vestnik Kavkaza.

- What do you think about holding educational exhibition in Azerbaijan?

- I believe that such events are necessary. It's an international forum with many participating countries, and the fact that Russian education is represented here is a prove that potential applicants from Azerbaijan who wish to study at our universities can get comprehensive information about many Russian universities at one platform.

- What is the level of Russian-Azerbaijani cooperation in education today?

- At one time we were a part of a single country, and in many ways our educational formats were the same. Nowadays there are many differences, including in Russia, since boundaries between forms of education are being erased. It allows us to achieve more flexible integration links. Of course, Azerbaijan and Russia are the countries of the post-Soviet space, so they are very close in their understanding of situation in the world in education, culture and science.

It's no coincidence that the most well-established public organization is the Association of Higher Education Institutions of Russia and Azerbaijan, where I, rector of the Ufa Oil University, am co-chair from the Russian side. Right now the Association includes almost 50 universities. We hold a lot of large-scale events in Azerbaijan and Russia, and not only in Moscow, but also in the regions. Not so long ago, Russian ambassador to Azerbaijan, Mikhail Bocharnikov, noted positive role of the Association in establishing integration ties between the universities of the two countries.

- How big is the interest in Russian language and education in Russian in Azerbaijan today?

- Azerbaijan is the undisputed leader in use of Russian language in the field of education and, therefore, in all other areas. That's why majority of Russians who come to Azerbaijan can feel at home, because there are always people who speak Russian perfectly around.