A solemn event was held at the Halkali Yahya Kemal Beyatli Exhibition Center in Istanbul to mark the "Year of Constitution and Sovereignty" and Azerbaijan's Independence Day, the State Committee on Work with Diaspora said.
The event was organized by the Azerbaijan Diaspora Support Fund, the Turkish-Azerbaijani Associations Federation (TADEF), and the IFA Sports Club in Istanbul.
The event began with a respectful tribute to the founding father of the Republic of Türkiye, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, and Azerbaijan's National Leader Heydar Aliyev, and the martyrs of both brotherly nations. The national anthems of both countries were played.
A video about the activities of TADEF was then shown.
In the official part of the ceremony, the First Deputy Chairman of the State Committee on Work with Diaspora Valeh Hajiyev, the Head of the Turkish-Azerbaijan Parliamentary Friendship Group in the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye (TBMM) Samil Ayrim, the Head of TADEF Adalet Turan, the Küçükçekmece District Governor in Istanbul Mustafa Anteplioğlu, and others spoke about Türkiye-Azerbaijan brotherhood, the victory in Karabakh, and the significance of this victory for the Turkic world.
The event continued with a cultural program presented by Saida Omer, the author and host of the "Azerbaijan Wind" program aired on "TRT Turku" radio.
During the concert, People's Artist of Azerbaijan Alikhan Samadov, singers İrada İbrahimova and Gunel Zeynalova performed popular music pieces. Famous tar player Rovshan Gurbanov led a mugham group, accompanied by Ceyhun Muradov on kamancha and Sayyar Teymurov on nagara. Renowned khanende (mugham singer) and soloist of the Azerbaijan State Philharmonic, Ravana Gurbanova, performed touching examples of Azerbaijani mugham.
With the support of the Azerbaijan Diaspora Support Fund, two tracks from the digital album "Azerbaijan Wind," titled "Lachin" and "Duzdurmusen", were performed by Azerbaijani tar player and PhD student at Istanbul University Parviz Musayev.
