A guest of Tribuna – Vestnik Kavkaza’s special project – is the senator from the Smolensk Region, the Deputy Chairwoman of the Federation Council Committee on Social Policy, Lyudmila Kozlova. Today she spoke about the pros and cons of the healthcare reforms currently being implemented, and about her links with the Caucasus. The senator said that Baku is her first homeland, where she was born and educated, and the second is Smolensk, where she started her profession.
"I love my first home, Azerbaijan, and my second home, Russia, which is also very important for me. When I go to Baku, I feel a range of vibrant feelings, and when I go back to Smolensk I have the same feelings, because both places are my home. I'd like all people can feel this. You can feel it where you are understood, where you are comfortable, where you are in harmony with yourself and with others," the senator said.
Lyudmila Kozlova participated in the visit by a parliamentary delegation of Russia to Azerbaijan on December 22 last year. "We arrived unexpectedly in the Republic of Azerbaijan on the day Mikhail Lermontov's birthday was celebrated. The event was organized in honor of its 200th anniversary by the granddaughter of Heydar Aliyev, Leila. It was an incredible concert, we could feel so much love and respect for the poet. Everyone talked about it. I was very happy when I returned to Baku after several years of absence, and saw it so much prettier, with a variety of nationalities living together and feeling comfortable," the senator said.
According to Kozlova, the people who have been and are now in its manual have played a crucial role in the development of the republic. "You know, I remember a wonderful Heydar Aliyev, I grew up and studied during his rule in Azerbaijan about the wisdom of this man, because Azerbaijan would be a very different state without his policies. When people talk about continuity, I say that Ilham Aliyev is not the President because he is the son of Heydar Aliyev, but because he deserves it. He's a very educated man, also a wise politician who has received appropriate training. I believe that Azerbaijan is flourishing due to Heydar Aliyev and President Ilham Aliyev, first of all. Only a wise policy could provide what we saw in December," she said.Lyudmila Kozlova drew attention to the fact that Azerbaijan still preserves the qualities for which the Caucasian peoples are famous. "These people are amazingly kind and welcoming, even naive sometimes, educated in the spirit of respect for others regardless of nationality. I was born in Azerbaijan, and there were Russians, Azerbaijanis, Armenians, Georgians, but there was only one nationality - Bakuvian. When I lived in Baku and someone asked about nationality, they would say "I am a Bakuvian" and anyone could say this, it was the case. This nation has always had respect for the elderly and women," the senator noted. "I met with my classmates and asked them, "how are your lives here?" One of them said to me, "when many people began to leave the republic, I had nowhere to go, and now I am very pleased about it, because I live well. "I saw familiar people of Armenian origin who live there, and I think that's right. I have a feeling that maybe, something that my city has always been famous for, is being reborn. When we realize this, no matter what nationality we belong to, we are one, and the main purpose of our existence is to make our state stronger. We must be united and understand that any person of any nationality is, first of all, a person," Lyudmila Kozlova concluded.
According to Kozlova, the people who have been and are now in its manual have played a crucial role in the development of the republic. "You know, I remember a wonderful Heydar Aliyev, I grew up and studied during his rule in Azerbaijan about the wisdom of this man, because Azerbaijan would be a very different state without his policies. When people talk about continuity, I say that Ilham Aliyev is not the President because he is the son of Heydar Aliyev, but because he deserves it. He's a very educated man, also a wise politician who has received appropriate training. I believe that Azerbaijan is flourishing due to Heydar Aliyev and President Ilham Aliyev, first of all. Only a wise policy could provide what we saw in December," she said.
Lyudmila Kozlova drew attention to the fact that Azerbaijan still preserves the qualities for which the Caucasian peoples are famous. "These people are amazingly kind and welcoming, even naive sometimes, educated in the spirit of respect for others regardless of nationality. I was born in Azerbaijan, and there were Russians, Azerbaijanis, Armenians, Georgians, but there was only one nationality - Bakuvian. When I lived in Baku and someone asked about nationality, they would say "I am a Bakuvian" and anyone could say this, it was the case. This nation has always had respect for the elderly and women," the senator noted.
"I met with my classmates and asked them, "how are your lives here?" One of them said to me, "when many people began to leave the republic, I had nowhere to go, and now I am very pleased about it, because I live well. "I saw familiar people of Armenian origin who live there, and I think that's right. I have a feeling that maybe, something that my city has always been famous for, is being reborn. When we realize this, no matter what nationality we belong to, we are one, and the main purpose of our existence is to make our state stronger. We must be united and understand that any person of any nationality is, first of all, a person," Lyudmila Kozlova concluded.
