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Official Opening Ceremony Program of â€œBaku-2015â€ I European Games ends - PHOTOSESSION - UPDATED - 1

Official Opening Ceremony Program of â€œBaku-2015â€ I European Games ends - <span style="color: red;">PHOTOSESSION - <span style="color: red;">UPDATED - 1

12 June 2015 20:50 (UTC +04:00)

The woman (Nargis Nasirzade) and man (Aydemir Aydemir) embodied the arrival of spring - Novruz, "Windy City" - Baku, Yanardag(Burning Mountain), hieroglyphs of Gobustan. They called for the unity of humanity and understanding.

The symbol of unity and truce rises high in the stadium.

The man and woman hold the burning rock and run together towards the rising disc. They splash into the shallows of water and throw the rock towards the black mirror disc. The burning rock smashes into the centre of the disc and shatters into pieces. Flames immediately ignite around the rim to create a ring of fire. The lit disc is reminiscent of a total solar eclipse – a cosmic coming together of the earth, sun and moon. Like the sun and the moon in an eclipse, our couple have aligned and become one.

Then 2000 artists participating in the evening gathered at the scene and triumphantly completed the ceremony performing the Azerbaijani national dance – “Yalli.”

The Opening Ceremony of “Baku-2015” the first European Games was attended by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic, Montenegrin President Filip Vujanovic, Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Mladen Ivanic, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Turkmen President Gurbangyly Berdimuhamedow, Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon, Grand Duke of Luxembourg Henri, Prince Albert II of Monaco, Captains Regent of San Marino Andrea Belluzzi and Roberto Venturini, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borisov, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, First Deputy Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan Tayyrbek Sarpashev, hairman of the Czech Parliament's Chamber of Deputies Jan Hamacek, Speaker of the Slovakian Parliament Peter Pellegrini, Second President of the Austrian Parliament Karlheinz Kopf, Vice-Speaker of the Latvian Parliament Andrei Klementiev, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Senate of the Republic of Mexico Gabriela Cuevas Barron, Chairman for the Ukrainian State Fiscal Service, Head of the Ukraine-Azerbaijan interparliamentary relations working group at the Verkhovna Rada Roman Nasirov, Qatar Olympic Committee Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani, Saudi Arabian Prince Abdullah bin Musa'ad, Kuwait's Information Minister and Minister of State for Youth Affairs Sheikh Salman Al-Hamoud Al-Sabah, Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers, Turkmen Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov, Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlüt ÇavuÅŸoÄŸlu, Oman Sheikh Saad bin Mohammed Al Mardouf Al Saadi, Iranian Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs Mahmoud Goudarzi, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz, Under Secretary of State at the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, MP Tobias Martin Ellwood, Deputy Minister of Culture of Vatican Louis Marie William Sanchez De Toca, ISESCO Director General Abdulaziz bin Othman al-Twaijri, Ex-President of Latvia Valdes Zatlers and other high-ranking officials.

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20:48

Baku. Ramiz Mikayiloghlu – APA. The Opening ceremony of “Baku-2015” the first European Games has started at Olympic Stadium with the capacity of 68 thousand spectators in Baku, Azerbaijan.

The ceremony started with a Mugham (folk music) performance by Azerbaijani mugham singer Alim Gasimov. With rhythms from 50 drums, a countdown from 24 to 0 will start off, symbolizing the 24 years of Azerbaijan’s state independence. The stage has been 0covered with the garments of about 1,000 dancers decorated with ornaments dedicated to famous Azerbaijani carpets. Sounds of sheypur (trumpet) will greet Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijan’s first lady, Chairwoman of the Organizing Committee of the first European Games Mehriban Aliyeva and President of the European Games Committees Patrick Hickey.

Azerbaijan’s national flag will be hoisted and national anthem was played. Then the last flame-bearer brought the flame, which has already traveled about 5,5000 km, to the stadium. Nizami, enlivened by Ilkin Aslanov, entered the stage, holding in his hand scales with dolls on both sides. They are Leyli and Majnun, the luckless lovers in one of the jewels of Azerbaijani literature. Leyli was enlivened by Patricia Zarnovich, Majnun by Marquez Scott.

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Announcers of the opening ceremony are Murad Dadshov and Husniyye Maharramova.

After greeting spectators, “Natig” rhythm group and Elnur Huseynov have performed on the scene. Then, "Mexican wave" was done on the stadium with Murtad Dadashov’s proposal. Dancers have performed to the "SarÄ± Gelin" (Blonde Bride) music.