Evening in memory of the national leader of Azerbaijan, Heydar Aliyev, was held at the center of oriental literature of the Russian State Library in Moscow.
The event was organized by the Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the Russian Federation. In addition, presentation of the book by the National Writer of Azerbaijan Elmira Akhundova "Heydar Aliyev. Personality and Era" was held in the framework of the event.
December 12 - Memorial Day of the National Leader of Azerbaijan, Heydar Aliyev. On this day, 16 years ago, the creator of modern Azerbaijani state passed away.
In his speech, Azerbaijani Ambassador to Russia Polad Bulbuloglu drew attention to the fact that Moscow had a special place in the life of Heydar Aliyev. “He worked in Moscow as the First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, he had a lot of responsibility as one of the leaders of the USSR. It should be noted that when Heydar Aliyev worked as First Deputy, Chairman Tikhonov was already over 80 years old, and so Heydar Aliyev had to carry the burden. At that time he was in charge of nearly 30 ministries."
"He was also always appointed Chairman of the State Commission when there were any disasters, tragedies. I was told that when Heydar Aliyev met with families of every person who drowned at Nakhimov ship in Odessa, he did a lot of work to eliminate the consequences of such major catastrophe that caused numerous casualties,” diplomat said.
"Heydar Aliyev was very fond of art, culture, and was deeply versed in it, which I personally saw when I worked for 10 years as the Minister of Culture of Azerbaijan in his government. Believe me, it was not easy, it was a difficult time. You know that culture isn't always completely subsidized, sometimes there was no money, and despite that Heydar Aliyev always found some kind words for cultural figures and an opportunity to help them both financially and personally," Polad Bulbuloglu noted.
In an interview with Vestnik Kavkaz, the president of the Union of Oil and Gas Producers Gennady Shmal noted that Heydar Aliyev played a huge role in the history of the USSR. "He was the First Deputy Prime Minister, a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee, in other words, a person who had huge power. I spoke to him several times. At that time, there was the Operational Affairs Commission in our government, which was responsible for our entire economy. If top leadership, like Tikhonov and then Ryzhkov, worked on global economic problems, then this Commission dealt with current urgent affairs. And it was headed by Heydar Aliyev himself," he recalled.
He also stressed that Heydar Aliyev was an amazing person whose potential was not fully realized. “First of all, he left Russia too early, so to speak. I think Heydar Aliyev could still do a lot for our state, for the country, which he later proved when he worked in Azerbaijan. He was a real professional in all matters, although for most of his life he worked on the KGB issues and other things, not economy."
According to him, Heydar Aliyev was a very modest person who could always help in solving any difficult issues. "In everyday life, he was very accessible. You could always come to him if you had any difficult questions. And there were a lot of such questions at that time. Yes, there are people like that right now, but it's just harder to get through. At that time the country's leadership was always available. If you came with some question, they will listen to you, help or at least tell you what are the ways to resolve this issue. Unfortunately, today there are few people like that."
Head of the Russia-Azerbaijan Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group, State Duma deputy Dmitry Saveliyev, noted that Heydar Aliyev was the greatest, wisest politician. “His personality cannot be overestimated. We, Russians, still use achievements of Heydar Aliyev, including pipelines, railways and roads, which help to supply our northern territories. I said that already and I'll continue to say that if it wasn't weak Gorbachev who came to power, but strong and wise leader like Heydar Aliyev, then the USSR wouldn't collapse, but would become the strongest self-sufficient state on the planet.
“Now we live in independent states, neighboring, close, fraternal states. We see the pace of development of relations between our states. In the economic sphere, trade is growing year by year. We see forums that are being held all the time, we see business contacts that are being established at these forums, we see how these contacts are turning into contracts and into existing economic mechanisms, and we see an increase in the tourist flow, primarily from Russia to Azerbaijan, which is creating excellent conditions. Azerbaijan knows how to greet guests, Azerbaijanis are really very kind people," he said.
In addition, he stressed that in the future both countries will continue to get closer. “We see visits at the highest level, we see visits of top officials. Recently, Mehriban Aliyeva paid a visit to Moscow, and she was received at the highest level by Russian President Vladimir Putin. She was awarded with one of the highest awards. This indicates that Azerbaijan is our most reliable partner, whom we absolutely trust," Dmitry Saveliyev concluded.
Rector of the Theater Institute named after Shchukin, People's Artist of Russia Evgeny Knyazev shared his memories of Heydar Aliyev. "I saw his performances when I was a boy, and he was always interesting to me due to his cheerfulness. As for Azerbaijan, it's unique in how quickly it managed to develop and rise. When I visited Baku 12-15 years ago, I was shocked by extraordinary beauty of this city, how it was made, how it was restored. The white embankment simply shocked me with its condition," he said.
"Azerbaijan and Russia are connected not just by friendship, but family ties. I'm rector of the Shchukin Theater Institute, and Azerbaijani students are studying in our university. I hope their compatriots will see how they perform, how we taught them. We like the way they perform, how energetic they are. And we hope that when they return to Azerbaijan, they will be able to create their own collective," he noted.
