Diaspora

Home page

Diaspora

Official presentation of European Azerbaijan Society takes place in Baku

29 January 2009 14:55 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The official presentation of the European Azerbaijan Society (EAS) was held in Baku. Members of the Parliament, representatives of the diplomatic corps accredited in Baku, as well as governmental and non-governmental organizations, international organizations, business people, activists of the European community attended the ceremony, APA reports.
Tale Heydarov, Chairman of the European Azerbaijan Society, spoke about the goals of the society. â€œEAS creates its activity on the basis of the London Azerbaijan Society established in 2004, and its official presentation took place in the Chamber of Lords in London last year. Taking into account the importance of the project aimed to promote Azerbaijani culture to European audiences, we decided to establish the societyâ€™s Baku Office. The Society aims to promote Azerbaijan as a modern, forward facing country with tremendous economic opportunities and a strong cultural heritage, to promote international relations with Azerbaijan to a wide political, media and cultural audience, to bring together Azerbaijanis living in Europe, and to involve them in promoting Azerbaijan and to raise awareness and end the apathy of the West towards the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijanâ€.

Tale Heydarov also underlined the significance of the Societyâ€™s publications to raise awareness about Azerbaijan in Europe. According to him, a magazine â€œVisions of Azerbaijanâ€ is published in English every three months and distributed to libraries, scientific research centers around the world, a book called â€œAzerbaijan: 100 Questions Answered" was published in English and Russian, and a new collection of articles by foreign authors about the Nagorno Karabakh Conflict will soon be published in the UK.

EAS chairman also noted that the Society give a special importance to the distribution of the publications about Azerbaijan via the European leading bookshop networks and negotiations are already going with â€œWaterstone Booksâ€ network.

Speaking about the undertaken projects, he underlined a documentary My Surreal Duty by British director Nick Tiron.
â€œThe EAS-initiated documentary with music by American Jeffrey Werbock deals with the lives of Azerbaijanis displaced from Karabakh by Armenian aggression. The firm is scheduled for completion in the next few days,â€ he said.

Adviser-editor of the â€œAzerbaijan: 100 Questions Answeredâ€ and â€œVisions of Azerbaijanâ€ Ann Tompson said Azerbaijan was a country well-known among the diplomatic, economic and governmental circles, but there may be some people who donâ€™t know Azerbaijan. â€œNow, thanks to efforts of the European Azerbaijan Society and support of the Azerbaijan-Britain Youth Society, we have a book which gives answers to our questions: â€œAzerbaijan: 100 Questions Answeredâ€. There are beautiful illustrations, photos, maps, pictures and comprehensive information about the Azerbaijanâ€™s history, culture and economy. You can learn Azerbaijani dishes, traditions, beliefs, as well as history of mugham, and methods of medical treatment with â€œ. Tompson said English and Russian versions of the book were one of the great achievements of EAS. â€œAnother achievement of the Society is â€œVisions of Azerbaijanâ€ published every three months, which contain interesting articles about the culture, history, traditions and economic potential of the countryâ€.

Addressing the event British ambassador to Azerbaijan Caroline Brawn called it a gratifying event that the initiative put forward by a group of Azerbaijani students in London four years ago to promote their country got over the borders of London and transferred to Europe. Mrs. Brown said she believed that EAS would provide more successful activity in the future.

Then a piece of the documentary film â€œMy Surreal Dutyâ€ produced on the EAS initiative was demonstrated at the event. The participants were given brochures published by European Azerbaijan Society in London â€œBusiness bulletinâ€, â€œAzerbaijanâ€™s role in the Caucasus and international policyâ€ and â€œNagorno Karabakhâ€ and book â€œAzerbaijan: 100 Questions Answeredâ€, last edition of the â€œVisions of Azerbaijanâ€.