First deputy chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers, former Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev put a lot of efforts during his activity to make relations between Russia and Azerbaijan based on friendship, mutual respect and mutually beneficial cooperation. Aliyev and Russian President Vladimir Putin together laid the foundation for a strategic partnership between the two countries. Speaker of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin said about this on Monday during the opening of the exhibition "Heydar Aliyev. Life Forever Long," dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Aliyev's birth, which included photos by TASS news agency photographers.
"An exhibition dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Heydar Aliyev, a prominent figure of the Soviet Union, opened in the State Duma. He did a lot for our countries to build relations based on the principles of friendship, mutual respect, non-interference in the affairs of sovereign states and mutually beneficial cooperation. <...> Thanks to Heydar Aliyev and our President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin a strong foundation has been laid for development of relations between our two countries," Volodin noted. According to him, the decision to open the exhibition in memory of Aliyev was unanimously adopted by the deputies of all the factions of the State Duma in order to "tell as much as possible about the legacy he left behind".
Volodin noted that it was Aliyev who was the founder of modern Azerbaijan, "which is developing, building relations with our country." "Therefore, for us, Heydar Aliyevich Aliyev is the man who did everything to make us strategic partners in the new history of Russia," Volodin said. Thus, on the basis of relations built by two presidents, Russia and Azerbaijan develop inter-parliamentary ties, and actively build relations "in all spheres, whether it is economy or humanitarian sphere, education or exchange of students". Volodin stressed that Heydar Aliyev made every effort to make his country sovereign and build relations on the principles of friendship with Russia. "And I must say, he succeeded. He brought up a wonderful son, who carries the same traditions, also strengthening relations with our country," Volodin stressed.
He also noted that Aliyev was a goal-oriented person who loved his country and devoted his life to serving the people - he made an invaluable contribution to the development of the USSR and strengthening its economy, and after the collapse of the country - to the development of his homeland, Azerbaijan. At the same time, the Duma Speaker stressed that Aliyev was a "professional, popular and effective" statesman, and losing such strong people in the Soviet Union after 1985 was one of the reasons for the collapse of the country. "His leaving certainly weakened the management of the Soviet Union, and then subsequent decisions similar to those made by [the last USSR leader Mikhail] Gorbachev and the betrayal of the political elite of the time led to the destruction of our united country, where we were all together," Volodin said.
The speaker of the State Duma also recalled that it was with Aliyev's name that the decision "to make May 9 a holiday in Azerbaijan" is connected. "This is his decision. He thought not only about the future, he thought about the memory of those who left defending the united country - the Soviet Union, having fallen by the death of the brave," Volodin added.
Modernization of economy and transport
Volodin emphasized that Sahiba Gafarova, chairwoman of Azerbaijan's Milli Majlis (parliament), attended the exhibition opening in the State Duma. In turn, Gafarova noted that Heydar Aliyev was a unique leader "who rose to the highest political leadership of the Soviet Union." "His name is associated with serious modernization of economic and transport systems, implementation of major infrastructure projects, among which construction of Baikal-Amur highway deserves special mention," Gafarova recalled.
Aliyev made an undeniable contribution to the development of Azerbaijani statehood. "He played an exceptional role in establishment and strengthening of Azerbaijan's independence and increasing its authority in the international arena," Gafarova said. She reminded that the Constitution of Azerbaijan was developed and adopted under Heydar Aliyev's leadership, the foundation of the country's economic policy was laid, an oil strategy was elaborated which became the basis for improvement of Azerbaijan's energy sector.
"Heydar Aliyev attached special importance to establishing good-neighborly friendly relations between Azerbaijan and Russia. He managed to effectively use all potential opportunities to develop cooperation between our countries both in economic and energy, humanitarian, cultural, scientific and other fields," Gafarova noted. She stressed that today Aliyev's ideas and plans are being successfully implemented by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
"Currently, relations between Azerbaijan and Russia have reached the level of allied interaction. At this stage, the international legal base of interaction between the two countries has about three hundred different legal documents, among which the declaration on allied interaction between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Russian Federation, which was signed by the heads of our states on February 22, 2022, should be especially noted," Gafarova stressed.
She also thanked Volodin for opening of the exhibition in memory of Heydar Aliyev at the State Duma. In his turn, Volodin thanked all those who came to the opening, as well as the organizers of the exhibition, including TASS and the Heydar Aliyev Foundation. Volodin reminded that since tomorrow plenary sessions start in Duma, so each deputy will have an opportunity to get familiar with the life story of "a great man, who served his country, did everything to make it strong and powerful".
Also on Monday, Volodin and Gafarova met in the State Duma to discuss the development of inter-parliamentary relations between Russia and Azerbaijan.
About the exhibition
The exhibition "Heydar Aliyev. Life Forever Long" exhibition in the State Duma is dedicated to the 100th anniversary of politician and statesman Heydar Aliyev. The exhibition was organized by the State Duma, the Chamber's committee for CIS affairs, the Azerbaijani parliament, TASS, the embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the Russian Federation and the Heydar Aliyev Foundation.
Almost a hundred photos have been presented at the exhibition which talk of Aliyev's long life and work path. Most of the photos for the exhibition were provided from the TASS archive. "The TASS archive contains a huge amount of news related to Heydar Aliyevich. The agency's correspondents covered his activities as the first deputy chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers and the president of Azerbaijan," said TASS General Director Sergei Mikhailov.
Visitors to the exhibition can see shots of the politician's childhood and youth, as well as numerous photos of visiting the Baikal-Amur Mainline, the construction of which was supervised by Aliyev, photos of his activities as president of Azerbaijan, and a selection of photos that show the meetings Aliyev had with Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Francois Mitterrand, Queen Elizabeth II of Britain, singer Muslim Magomaev, cellist Mstislav Rostropovich and other famous personalities.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from TASS