Visions of Azerbaijan International magazine on Azerbaijan

Over 1,000 photographs collected in a book titled “Azərbaycan”, issued to provide detailed information about the country, portray the Azerbaijani people’s ancient history, culture, traditions, ethnographic features and also offer a contemporary view of the country.

The book, a Heydar Aliyev Foundation project, takes the reader through Azerbaijan inch by inch; the virtual journey beginning from the capital, Baku.
There are pictures of the various sights in Baku, which is located on the coast of the legendary Caspian Sea, including the most prominent landmarks: the Old Town, the Shirvanshahs’ Palace and Maiden ...more ››

The Lords Laird and Kilclooney, members of The European Azerbaijan Society (TEAS) Advisory Board, visited Azerbaijan in early June. This was Lord Laird’s first visit to the country; Lord Kilclooney had been on several previous visits as a member of the European Parliament.
Visions of Azerbaijan met their lordships in Baku and asked them about their interest in the country ...more ››

In May this year, Qabala Football Club caused something of a sensation in Azerbaijan and further afield by announcing the capture of English footballing legend Tony Adams as their Head Coach. With him as assistant came Gary Stevens.
Tony Adams played more than 650 games for his club, Arsenal (‘The Gunners’), and was their captain for 14 years, four times as champions of England. He played for England 66 times. He has previously coached in Holland and managed two English football clubs. Gary Stevens was a player with Tottenham Hotspur and also played 7 times for England. He was recently a coach with English club Charlton Athletic ...more ››

Montana State University (MSU) organized a course modelled on the Black Sea Economic Cooperation during this year’s spring term. The course was led by Professor Thomas Goltz, author of ‘Azerbaijan Diary’, the brilliant first-hand account of the early years of Azerbaijan’s independence from the USSR and the Armenian invasion of Nagorno Karabagh.
As a result of his work on the course, political science senior student Colin Daniel was awarded the Heydar Aliyev Award for Excellence in Academic Work Impacting on Azerbaijan. Daniel was presented with the award on April 30 by H.E. Consul General of Azerbaijan Elin Suleymanov at MSU. Mr. Suleymanov was also instrumental in funding the final "summit" simulation of the Model Black Sea Economic Cooperation class ...more ››

Azerbaijan in World War II: the home front

Azerbaijan was part of the Soviet Union during World War II (1939-45). As well as fighting on the Soviet-German frontlines from 1941-45, there was also the home front. Once the war started, industrial workers were mobilized into the army. Young people and people with no industrial experience replaced them. In Baku alone, up to 70,000 young people began their working lives then.
From the first days of the war, Azerbaijan became the front’s armoury. Trains full of oil products, weapons, munitions, military supplies and foodstuffs formed a continuous supply line from Baku to the front, and the famous Katyusha projectiles entered production ...more ››

by Ilqar Niftaliyev

Armenian claims to Azerbaijani lands in Karabakh, Zengezur and Nakhchivan did not cease after the Russian 11th Red Army occupied Northern Azerbaijan in April 1920. Soviet Russia, which was nurturing plans to annex the entire South Caucasus, came forward as a mediator in the resolution of this conflict.
From 1917-22, Stalin headed the Commissariat for Ethnicities of the RSFSR. He was one of the political leaders of Soviet Russia actively involved in this process1 ...more ››

by Shirin Bunyadova

Knock on any door...

Azerbaijan’s customs of hospitality are very revealing of the culture and the spirit of the world in which its people live.
These customs tell us much about the people who live in this land and their potential. Alexandre Dumas wrote about Azerbaijani hospitality and also of the Caucasus peoples: “If you knock on any door in Azerbaijan, or anywhere in the Caucasus, say that you’re a foreigner and have no place to spend the night, the owner of the house will immediately give you his largest room. He and his family will move to the small room. Moreover, during the week, two weeks ...more ››

by Dr. Kamil Ibrahimov

“The towers that can still be seen in the sea before the city of Baku, the walls, gravestones and descriptions written by historians about the former condition of this city show that what was urban 400 or 500 years ago is now submarine. Presumably, these places will surface again sometime in the future.”

Abbasgulu Bakikhanov
19th century Azerbaijani historian,
public and political figure ...more ››

by Fuad Tagiyev

Baku was conquered by the Russian Empire in 1806 but was not granted a coat of arms until after 1840, when the tsar issued a decree on the “Institution of Administration for the Transcaucasian region”. Once incorporated into the structure of Russian government, the region had to acquire the attributes of imperial heraldry
In 1841 General Golovin, commander-in-chief of the Caucasus, and Senator Gan, chairman of the Commission for Establishing Governance of the Transcaucasian region, informed the capital that the ...more ››

by Karim K. Shukurov

In the previous issue of our magazine (March-April 2010), we presented Section I of the project “Azerbaijani history: from ancient times to the present day” by Doctor of Historical Sciences Karim Sukurov. In this issue, we continue this project with Section II ...more ››

by Fazail Valiyev

Clothing fashions date back to the period 40,000 – 25,000 BC. The first people to live on the land of the present Azerbaijan wore clothes made from natural materials (leather, artificial fibres leaves etc)

Stone-Age weaving

The development of weaving brought changes to the clothing people wore. Already by the late Neolithic – early Eneolithic periods, the number of woven clothes had increased; rather than appropriating ...more ››

by Fiona Maclachlan

Baku is a large and thriving industrial and cultural centre and is a city of many museums and architectural gems. It´s busy, vibrant and hospitable. The theatre is a particularly important part of life here; it has a long history - the first opera in the East was performed here - and one of the city´s most famous venues for a glamorous evening´s entertainment is the Azerbaijan State Theatre of Opera and Ballet ...more ››

by Mohbaddin Samad

A 25-year-old painter appeared in Baku in 1955. From the day he was first seen in the city, legends and myths began to form around him. This man, whom many did not know well, was, however, no stranger. In fact he was born here, to be exact, on 7 August 1930. The repression and exiles that took place later, i.e. in 1937, affected his family too. They dictated that he spend some time living in Samarkand before studying at the State Higher School of Art in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius. This was Togrul Narimanbeyov – now renowned and currently living in Paris - this People’s Painter of the USSR and of the Azerbaijani Republic ...more ››

The innovative Maiden Tower International Art Festival brought 20 artists from 18 different countries to Baku’s historical focal point, the mysterious Qiz Qalasi – Maiden Tower – at the end of May. Their task? – to paint models of the monument using motifs from their own cultures, thus creating a synthesis of traditions ...more ››

by Aydin Kazimzade

The Azerbaijani State Film Foundation set up...

Cinema is still given junior status by certain culture vultures, perhaps because of its relatively short period of development. For countries like Azerbaijan, however, which have seen such dramatic social and political changes over this time, cinema is a special source of pride ...more ››

.... and competitive

After tantalising you with a ‘snapshot’ in our last edition about the “Molla Nasreddin – Azerbaijan 2010” International Cartoon Competition, we just had to go to the Azerbaijan Cartoonists’ Union to bring you more ...more ››

Molla (mullah) Nasreddin is a character well-known throughout the Turkic world – and further – although his name has many permutations; sometimes he is ‘’Hodja’ (elder) Nasreddin. Generally thought to be of medieval origin, some say he is based on a real person and at least one Turkish town claims to be his final resting place. Whatever the truth, stories about the Molla are still exchanged and, as mentioned elsewhere in this issue, an equally popular satirical magazine, published in Azerbaijan during the tumultuous early 20th century ...more ››