Chairman of the State Duma Committee: Heydar Aliyev laid foundations for prosperity of Azerbaijan - INTERVIEW

Interview of the Russian bureau of Report with Chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs Leonid Slutsky

- Today marks the 96th anniversary of the birth of national leader Heydar Aliyev. How do you evaluate the role of Heydar Aliyev in the creation of modern Azerbaijan?

- For me and thousands of people in the world far beyond the borders of Russia and Azerbaijan, the name of Heydar Aliyev was remembered as the name of the creator of the modern Azerbaijani state. The whole world honors Heydar Aliyev as a man who led his people to independence, to a sovereign state and laid the foundations of the prosperity that modern Azerbaijan is famous for in the world.

Thanks to Heydar Aliyev and his son, current President Ilham Aliyev, who continues the traditions of his father, Azerbaijan has become one of the most prosperous economies of the former Soviet Union, one of the leading international platforms for dialogue of cultures, civilizations and various religious denominations. Today’s Azerbaijan and Russia are an example of tolerance for the entire post-Soviet space.

- Baku today is one of the leading platforms for the dialogue of cultures. How relevant is this for the 21st century?

- It is very symbolic that a presentation of the book “Dialogue of cultures” took place on ahead of the day of commemoration of Heydar Aliyev. The intellectuals of our two countries gathered in the Azerbaijani Embassy in Russia. This is very typical for the dialogue of cultures growing between Moscow and Baku and in Baku as one of the leading world spaces for the dialogue of civilizations. I am sure that today those megaprojects that the Heydar Aliyev Foundation leads, which originate in the capital of the beloved brotherly Azerbaijan, are key projects.

At present, the dialogue of cultures is more important than politics with all its colossal importance, and even more important than economics. The way people  from different cultural and ethnic groups, with different biographies, education, and religious background understand each other depends on what the world order will be like in our very difficult days, what the world will be like in the 21st century, and whether the world architecture of the 21st century is safe and stable. The Azerbaijani leadership demonstrates a very serious attitude towards these issues.

- Heydar Aliyev Foundation is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year. What has the Foundation achieved over the years thanks to its permanent leader, Mehriban Aliyeva?

- Today, the Heydar Aliyev Foundation is leading the megaprojects that rely on enormous human, financial and intellectual resources. They bring together thousands of people of different nationalities, religions and ages who are getting closer to each other.

Mehriban Aliyeva has managed to turn Baku into one of the world capitals of humanitarian cooperation.

- There has recently been a meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Moscow, as they agreed on cultural cooperation at the level of journalists. Do you think this is an important step towards the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict?

- Heads of state and ministers of foreign affairs are holding meetings. The Karabakh dossier is an extremely delicate matter and by some careless statement you can break that thinnest interaction fabric. This conflict must find its solution during the life of our generation of politicians, but at the same time, it is necessary to have a certain delicacy. I know well the mechanics of the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement, the negotiation process, but I do not consider it necessary now to touch on some details so as not to shake the process that is slowly but surely moving along a constructive path. I am sure that the necessary solution, at least an intermediate one, will be found in the foreseeable future.

Igbal Rustamov