(MENAFN- AzerNews)
On September 30, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham
Aliyev, along with his son Heydar Aliyev, participated in the
unveiling ceremony of a statue of the prominent figure of
Azerbaijani ashug art and great folk artist, Ashig Alasgar, in
Baku, Azernews reports.
The head of state addressed the event.
Speech by President Ilham Aliyev
- Dear friends, it is a very significant day in our city today.
I can even say that it is a very significant day for the country.
We are unveiling the statue of Ashiq Alasgar, a prominent
representative of Azerbaijan's ashiq art, in the center of Baku. I
would like to sincerely congratulate you and all the people of
Azerbaijan on this occasion. This is a truly wonderful event.
As you may know, I signed two decrees three years ago to
perpetuate the name of Ashiq Alasgar. On the basis of the first
decree, the 200th anniversary of the birth of Ashiq Alasgar was
celebrated at a state level. The second decree envisaged the
establishment of a statue of Ashiq Alasgar. Today, in this
beautiful place of Baku, actually in the center of our city, in a
beautiful park, we are unveiling the statue of Ashiq Alasgar.
As you may be aware, Ashiq Alasgar lived all his life and worked
in Goycha district, the ancient land of Azerbaijan, lived a long
life there but was forced to leave his native land in the last
years of his life. He was 97 years old at the time. In 1918,
Armenian savages subjected Azerbaijanis to ethnic cleansing. This
was the first deportation of Azerbaijanis from their ancient land
in Western Azerbaijan in the 20th century. Unfortunately, our
people were subjected to two more waves of deportation after that.
Ashiq Alasgar moved to the neighboring Kalbajar district together
with his family. However, his native land never stopped attracting
him to Goycha district, although in terms of climate, nature and
beauty Kalbajar and Goycha districts are not very dissimilar. But
his love of the Motherland and his native land was so strong that
despite all the dangers involved, he returned to his native village
of Agkilsa in about three years and died there a few years
later.
We all know very well that the 150th anniversary of Ashiq
Alasgar's birth was celebrated on the Soviet Union-wide scale on
the initiative of the National Leader in the 1970s and his statue
was erected in his native Agkilsa village on the occasion of his
jubilee. When our people were subjected to the third wave of
deportation, Armenian vandals destroyed that statue. We are seeing
that today. In Karabakh and East Zangezur, our historical sites,
monuments to prominent personalities, mosques, palaces and
cemeteries were destroyed by Armenian vandals. This practice is not
new, this injustice, this brutality has been committed against us
in front of the whole world for centuries.
Today, those attending this event will talk about the activities
and creative activities of Ashiq Alasgar. I simply want to say that
his works have left an indelible mark in the hearts of the
Azerbaijani people and that even 200 years on he still remains in
the memory of our people as an outstanding personality, a patriot,
a person who loved his people and homeland. Of course, we see the
high spirit of our people in his example. Because, let me say this
again, he was forced to leave his land at the age of 97 but
returned there at the age of 100, despite all the dangers - those
dangers had not completely subsided yet at the time.
As I mentioned, our nation was subjected to three waves of
deportations in the 20th century – first in 1918, second in the
1940-50s and third in the late 1980s and early 1990s. After a
certain period of time, after the two deportations, the Azerbaijani
people returned to their ancestral lands, not all of them but a
large part of them did. This makes us legitimately confident that
the Western Azerbaijanis who were subjected to the third wave of
ethnic cleansing will also return to their ancestral lands. There
are many reasons for this. Of course, the love of the Motherland,
those lands have not been and will not be forgotten. The next
generations of Western Azerbaijanis who have not seen those lands
are living with a dream for the Motherland.
Today, we are seeing the indomitable spirit of the Azerbaijani
people in the example of our compatriots returning to Karabakh and
East Zangezur. Our compatriots from Karabakh and East Zangezur, who
had not seen those lands before, are eagerly and impatiently
waiting for the day of their return. They are looking forward to
the implementation of the Great Return program. In fact, this
program is already underway. The people of Karabakh who had never
lived in those lands but lived with the dream of returning to those
lands are now returning to Karabakh. I am sure that we will see the
same during the period of return to Western Azerbaijan. Because our
kids, our schoolchildren are going to school in Shusha, Lachin,
Khankendi, Khojaly, Fuzuli today. September 15, the first day of
school, showed that. It was a truly festive and holiday atmosphere
in all these regions and throughout Azerbaijan. I am sure that our
compatriots from Western Azerbaijan will experience the same
feelings. Everything is in our hands. During the occupation of
Karabakh, each of us sometimes experienced feelings of
disappointment and mistrust. It seemed to us that this injustice,
which hurt everybody's heart, would last forever. But we always
kept those thoughts away, we lived with faith, and we also knew
that it should be our job to restore justice, that no one would
restore this justice for us, no one had such an intention or
desire.
I already said several times in numerous meetings with foreign
representatives during the years of occupation. I heard opinions
that we had to come to terms with this reality, Karabakh was
already lost, we needed to make peace with Armenia, we needed to
prepare the young generation for peace, there was no military
solution to this conflict and other ideas. In some cases, those
voicing such opinions were probably sincere, but sometimes they did
this in order to divert us from our path, to instill pessimism in
us. Life and reality have shown that everything is in our own
hands. The Second Karabakh War, the anti-terror operation and the
subsequent period, i.e. the past year have shown that where there
is a strong will, where there is a unity of people and government
and where there is an unbending spirit of the people, no force or
organization can stand against this will. The liberation of
Karabakh and East Zangezur, the complete restoration of our
sovereignty – and I know this – have further increased this
optimism, these ideas and hopes among Western Azerbaijanis. Even
during the occupation, about 10 years ago, perhaps even before
that, in some of my speeches I voiced my thoughts about Western
Azerbaijan. We should always set goals. These goals are strategic
and tactical, short- and long-term. But if the goals are not
identified correctly, it will not be possible to achieve any
results. Goals should reflect the truth and justice, as well as the
real situation and our real power. The stronger we are, the higher
the chances that our voice will be heard. Today, during the year
following the anti-terror operation, we are seeing that. In fact,
during the first weeks and months, many baseless accusations were
made against us, sanctions were imposed on us. In order to impose
even greater sanctions on us, the superpowers, at least those who
consider themselves as such, openly attacked us on various
international platforms, unleashed a cold war on us. This continues
to this day. On the eve of the anniversary of the anti-terror
operation, we faced such a large-scale smear and slander campaign
again. Can it affect our resolve? Never! Because ours is the cause
of justice and our work enjoys the support of the people of
Azerbaijan. In fact, this is the work of the Azerbaijani people.
The liberation of Karabakh and East Zangezur, the complete
restoration of sovereignty were possible thanks to the will of the
Azerbaijani people, the heroism and valor of our heroic
children.
We marked Remembrance Day three days ago. Once again, we pray
for Allah's mercy for all our martyrs, their heroism will never be
forgotten. But along with the sad day of September 27, two holidays
were added to our calendar – November 8 and September 20. These are
Victory holidays. This Victory will live with us forever.
The establishment of a statue of the outstanding representative
of Western Azerbaijan today is, first of all, a sign of respect of
the Azerbaijani people for the memory of Ashiq Alasgar. At the same
time, this statue is a symbol that invites all Western Azerbaijanis
and indeed all the people of Azerbaijan to unite for one cause. We
are looking forward to that day, we believe, I believe and you
believe in that too. The day will come when we will restore the
statue of Ashiq Alasgar destroyed by Armenians and hold a similar
ceremony in Agkilsa village.
xxx
Speakers at the event also included Anar, people's writer,
Chairman of the Union of Azerbaijani Writers, Ahliman Amiraslanov,
Chairman of the Council of Elders of the Western Azerbaijan
Community, Maharram Gasimli, Chairman of the Union of Ashigs,
descendant of Ashig Alasgar Khatai Alasgarli.
xxx
President Ilham Aliyev unveiled the statue of Ashiq Alasgar.
The President of Azerbaijan placed a bouquet at the base of the
statue.
A commemorative photo was taken at the conclusion of the
event.
The author of the statue is people's artist Natig Aliyev, while
Malik Babayev, a senior lecturer at the Azerbaijan Academy of Arts,
is a sculptor.
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