Russian political and cultural figures congratulated the First Lady of Azerbaijan, President of Heydar Aliyev Foundation, Goodwill Ambassador of UNESCO and ISESCO, MP of the Milli Mejlis, Mehriban Aliyeva, on her birthday.
The Deputy Chairman of the Russian Commission for UNESCO, the former head of North Ossetia, a bearer of Azerbaijan's Order of Friendship, Alexander Dzasokhov, emphasized that Mehriban Aliyeva enjoys great respect from artists and intellectuals of multinational Russia.
"Mehriban Aliyeva is an outstanding representative of her people all over the world. She is known in the UNESCO, the UN as well as many countries. This recognition is based on her deep understanding of the importance of Azerbaijani national culture, her genuine desire for different cultures and traditions to live in harmony and help to enrich each other's understanding of fundamental values," he noted.
"Mehriban Aliyeva has played a special role in the development of cultural relations between Russia and Azerbaijan. The success of our economic cooperation is based on friendship, and she is one of the architects of such relations. As the Deputy Chairman of the Russian Commission for UNESCO and a member of dozens of major international forums, I know that her name always stirs interest. She belongs to the cohort of those people who are awarded the UNESCO ambassador title. In our environment, we often say that Baku has become one of the centers, which hosts major regional and international cultural forums, which have become a part of modern Azerbaijan. Mehriban Aliyeva has been making her contribution to this," Alexander Dzasokhov said.
The former head of North Ossetia said that he met Mehriban Aliyeva at many events, which she attended as the First Lady of Azerbaijan and the President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation. "Her participation in numerous discussions at the UN and UNESCO headquarters was very interesting and useful, she gave brilliant speeches at several major events in Moscow, including those devoted to the development of sports. I remember Mehriban Aliyeva's convincing and appropriate speech about culture and sports before the First European Games. As a representative of the older generation and a bearer of Azerbaijan's Order of Friendship, I join in numerous warm congratulations to the first lady of Azerbaijan on her birthday," the Deputy Chairman of the Russian Commission for UNESCO congratulated Mehriban Aliyeva.
The well-known TV host, actor and director Yuli Gusman, in turn, expressed confidence that Mehriban Aliyeva's qualities are clear to everyone who knows her. "She is smart, beautiful, talented, extraordinary, amazing strong woman. She combines a political figure, a mother, a first lady and a worthy leader of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation. The First European Games and the Eurovision were held brilliantly under her leadership. "Together with the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, surprisingly cultured man, they are a pair, which is different on the whole UN space by their positivity and talent and also by what is happening in Azerbaijan," he stressed.
"Baku, retaining all its advantages, has become an absolute modern Western city like New York or Monaco. It is an excellent city, however, not only it has changed, but everything around as well, including the mountainous areas on the border with Georgia, where we shot 'Don't Be Afraid, I Am Here For You'. Our entire crew was delighted, visiting the beautiful historic region. Mehriban Aliyeva has played a great role in these transformations," Yuli Gusman drew attention.
"I want to congratulate Mehriban Aliyeva on her birthday not only on my own behalf, not only on behalf of all the Baku citizens, who live and work around the world - in Russia, the US, Europe, Asia - and not only as a man of culture and arts, but I also want to say that it is a great honor to love your home country and be proud of it also because there is such a wonderful first lady Mehriban Aliyeva there," the director concluded.
The deputy head of the Council of the Russian Diplomats Association, Andrey Baklanov, stressed that he considers it necessary not only to congratulate Mehriban Aliyeva on her birthday, but also express his heartfelt gratitude for the work that the First Lady of Azerbaijan carries out to strengthen the Russian-Azerbaijani relations. "I have been at a number of events at the embassy with her participation, and her activities make a great impression. In particular, not so long ago, Mehriban Aliyeva as the head of the Organizing Committee presented the First European Games in Moscow, which were held in Baku for the fist time in 2015," he recalled.
"She substantiated the idea of the Games very well and showed the prospects of development of sports in this area. Her speech was politically seasoned and very beautiful. In general, the Mehriban Aliyeva's public activity adorns people's lives and friendly relations among nations and peoples," Andrey Baklanov added.
In addition, the diplomat shared his personal impressions of Mehriban Aliyeva. "She is a very skilled speaker who can enchant a really good idea in such a way to attract the attention of people to it. One can cite the 'Baku' magazine as an example, which publishes very interesting articles about Azerbaijan, bilateral relations with Russia, and articles about culture. This is also a reflection of the multifaceted activity of the first lady of Azerbaijan. We express our admiration for Mehriban Aliyeva's work and wish her to continue this work, which serves to noble goals of the development of the Russian-Azerbaijani relations and friendship," the deputy head of the Council of the Russian Diplomats Association summed up.
