On 14 December, the International Conference “Dialogue of cultures in a changing world” was held in the conference hall of the main building.
The conference began with an official meeting dedicated to the opening of the Heydar Aliyev Centre for Turkic languages and cultures. The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the Russian Federation Polad Bülbüloğlu gave a welcoming speech.
“It is nice to be here, at the alma mater of the graduates who successfully work in Azerbaijan. Russia and Azerbaijan have been on friendly terms for a very long time. Today this cooperation is especially important for us. I’m glad to see that the Heydar Aliyev Centre for Turkic languages and cultures opens in Voronezh. It is a very important event for the university with such a rich and wonderful history.”
Polad Bülbüloğlu thanked the VSU rector’s office and the administration for the possibility to open this centre and expressed hope for extending cooperation in the field of Turkic culture studies.
Oleg Mosolov, Deputy Chair of the Government of the Voronezh Region, also gave a speech at the meeting. He greeted the delegation of the Republic of Azerbaijan on behalf of the Governor of the Voronezh region and expressed his hope that the created centre would contribute to scientific research and cultural exchange not only between universities but also at the regional level.
Şahin Soltan oğlu Bağırov, Major General, Chairman of the State Customs Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan and a graduate of the VSU Faculty of Economics, was present as the head of the delegation of Azerbaijan. He thanked the VSU rector for opening the Heydar Aliyev Centre for Turkic languages and cultures. According to him, this is a significant contribution to the cultural enrichment of the university.
Galey Ali oğlu Allahverdiyev, Professor from the Department of International Relations and Regional Studies of the Azerbaijan University of Languages, also addressed the conference participants. He said he was looking forward to new areas of cooperation between VSU and the Azerbaijan University of Languages, including studying and academic exchange.
“It is a great honour to collaborate with one of the best universities in the Republic of Azerbaijan. In the future, we are planning to reach a higher level of cooperation through the organisation of network educational programmes,” said Dmitry Endovitsky.
After the welcoming speeches, the VSU Rector officially signed a cooperation agreement with the Azerbaijan University of Languages.
The practical part of the conference “Dialogue of cultures in a changing world” began with Galey Ali oğlu Allahverdiyev’s report on the multiculturalism policy of Heydar Aliyev. The significance of the personality of the Azerbaijan’s national leader and their role in the formation of the country was the main topic of the reports by Şahin Soltan oğlu Bağırov and Nazim Zakir oğlu Akhundov, honorary auditor of the Republic of Azerbaijan and member of the Chamber of Auditors, who talked about Heydar Aliyev’s contribution to the formation of the educational system. The same was the topic of the report by Aida Mamed qizi Yusifzade, Head of the Department of International Relations of the Azerbaijan University of Languages, who talked about the history of the Constitution and the formation of the state system of modern Azerbaijan.
Voronezh State University was represented by Alexey Kretov, director of the Heydar Aliyev Centre for Turkic languages and cultures and professor at the Department of Theoretical and Linguistics of the Faculty of Romance and Germanic Philology, who prepared an overview of the state of Turkic research at the Voronezh State University, and Zhanna Gracheva, Dean of the Faculty of Philology, whose speech was dedicated to the Russian character and its reflection in the Russian language and literature.
Alexander Timashov, secretary of the National Chamber under the governor of the Voronezh Region, talked about the role of the Azerbaijani community in the interethnic communication in the Voronezh Region. The speech by Emil Mahmud oğlu Kyazimov, chairman of the Azerbaijan Youth Association of the Voronezh Region Kyazimov, concluded the conference.
The conference was supervised by Alla Akulshina, Head of International Relations office. After the conference, the exhibition “Friendship without borders: Russia and Azerbaijan” was opened at the museum and exhibition centre.
