Posted by 
Azerbaijan has historically been a unique area of connection between civilizations and cultures, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said in his message addressed to the participants of the national conference entitled “Russian community – 20 years in the family of nations of new Azerbaijan”.
Ilham Aliyev’s message was read by the head of Department of Public and Political Issues of Presidential Administration of Azerbaijan, Ali Hasanov.
“High humanism and tolerance, inherent to the Azerbaijani people’s mentality, have secured separate ethnic groups’ residence in the country in safety, friendship and brotherhood and in an environment of ethnic and religious tolerance throughout centuries,” Azerbaijani president said.
In his message, President Ilham Aliyev noted that today multinational and multi-confessional Azerbaijani society is unimaginable without the Russian community.
Azerbaijani president in his message sincerely congratulated the conference participants on the 20th anniversary of creation of Russian community in Azerbaijan and conveyed his best wishes.
“Russian Community” public association, making an important contribution to development of international relations and development of civil society over the years, has become one of the most authoritative organizations in the country, according to the message of the president.
“The organization that unites patriotic and creative people, is conducting an important work in the field of preservation and development of Russian language and culture, national traditions and customs. We evaluate the cultural and ethnic diversity existing in our society and multiculturalism traditions as a historic achievement of our people and consider it a major focus of the national policy,” Ilham Aliyev said in his message.
The president noted in the message that in the South Caucasus, Russians mostly live in Azerbaijan.
“They consider Azerbaijan as their motherland and actively participate in all spheres of political, economic and cultural life of the country. Many of our citizens of Russian nationality showed true patriotism and heroism in the fight against Armenian invaders in the name of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan,” President Ilham Aliyev said.
“Relations of friendship and neighborhood between Azerbaijan and Russia are rich with historical traditions. At this developmental stage of multilateral cooperation, relations that are based on these traditions and cover all areas, the diaspora organizations and communities that operate in both countries play a significant role,” said the message of the president.
Azerbaijani president stressed that the “Russian Community” public association has come a fruitful path over the last 20 years, appropriately representing Russians living in Azerbaijan.
President Ilham Aliyev expressed confidence that this organization will continue its decisive activity for further strengthening civil solidarity in Azerbaijan, rapprochement and mutual enrichment of peoples and cultures, and bringing Azerbaijani realities to the world community.
