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Heads of Azerbaijani and Russian presidential administrations open â€œRusskaya knigaâ€ House in Baku

23 November 2009 11:26 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Lachin Sultanova â€“ APA. Opening ceremony of â€œRusskaya knigaâ€ House was held with participation of head of Russian Presidential Administration Sergei Narishkin and head of Azerbaijani Presidential Administration Ramiz Mehdiyev, APA reports. Narishkin said the relations between Russia and Azerbaijan had reached the level of strategic cooperation, this makes it available to develop humanitarian cooperation. He said â€œRusskaya knigaâ€ had been opened with the support of Azerbaijani government and civil society. Narishkin said the Russian language and culture are respected in Azerbaijan, Russian language is taught and even Mass Media in Russian operates in Azerbaijan. Reminding the opening of Baku branch of Moscow State University last year, Narishkin stated that 140 thousand people receive education in Russian, 50 newspapers and magazines are published in Russian and 7 information agencies operate in Russian language in Azerbaijan.

Mehdiyev said Azerbaijani-Russian were at the highest level and met the interests of both countries. He said this cooperation contributed to the security and stability in the region. â€œThere are intensive political relations between our countries. We attach special attention to the political dialogue. Strong basis of political relations and level of economic cooperation contributes to the establishing of new relations, including humanitarian, between our peoples. Russkaya Kniga House will strengthen humanitarian relations and create opportunity to learn Russian literature. Such houses will be opened in Ganja and Sumgayit too and the second one is expected to be opened in Baku. Azerbaijani-Russian relations are developing for 200 years and Heydar Aliyev brought completely new quality and more intensive level to the relations. Vladimir Putinâ€™s visit to Azerbaijan in 2001 was an important step toward this and launched new period of bilateral relations. President Ilham Aliyev and President Dmitriy Medvedev are developing these traditions successfully nowâ€.

Speaking about the care for Russian language in Azerbaijan, Mehdiyev said 21 schools of the country launched education program in Russian and 335 - both Azerbaijani and Russian. Only Slavic University in CIS is in Baku, which is training the teachers of Russian language and literature. Mehdiyev said 160 000 Russian are living in Azerbaijan and it is largest Russian Diaspora in the region. â€œThe Russians are using equal rights as Azerbaijani citizens. All ethnic minorities are free in Azerbaijan and actively participate in socio-political life of the country. Russkaya Kniga House is an important event in the dynamically-developing relations and meets the interests of both countriesâ€.