Visions of Azerbaijan International magazine on Azerbaijan

Hello and welcome - Xos Gelmisiniz to the new look Visions of Azerbaijan magazine. This re-launched magazine has a new broad appeal, informs the world about Azerbaijan, and includes many varied and interesting articles and features for you to enjoy… ...more ››

The Caucasus region is one of massive potential. Azerbaijan’s oil and gas reserves have clearly been the main driver of the progress made in many areas since independence from the Soviet Union. However, there are still problems hindering the development of regional projects, and the biggest of these is the still unresolved conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenia continues to occupy about ...more ››

Some of the world’s top musicians and conductors performed in Baku in December during the Third International Rostropovich Festival ...more ››

by Rovsan Didavari

In the globalizing world tourism is a lucrative part of the economy. It makes a great contribution to the budget of most countries. The experience of Turkey, Spain and other countries that make revenues from tourism also shows that it is impossible to rapidly develop ...more ››

by Kamil Farhadoglu

Baku’s incorporation into the Russian Empire in 1806 marked the start of a new phase in the city’s development, both in terms of layout and architecture. The city changed even more dramatically after it was given the status of a governorate in 1859. ...more ››

by Prof. Ismayil Musa

Azerbaijan had three turbulent years of political independence in 1918-21. As Tsarist Russia collapsed in 1917, the Azerbaijanis, Armenians and Georgians all seized the opportunity to create their own states in the South Caucasus. The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR) was created on 28 May 1918. The parliament of the ADR was elected by universal suffrage (women had the vote in the ADR before Britain and the USA) and the country was run on a day-today basis by a government answerable to parliament. Consolidating the borders of the new republic was one of the first challenges faced by the ADR government. ...more ››

by Mohbaddin Samad

Civilization and culture are driven by a desire to win the fight against time. This desire has driven the greatest fi gures in culture and civilization. Azerbaijani painter Sattar Bahlulzade was such a driven artist. Through his art, Sattar Bahlulzade emerged victorious from the fi ght against time, though he himself might not have been aware of this. Like a lightning rod, he absorbed the pains and problems of his era to produce positive, multi-coloured paintings. He would say, half-joking: “The feelings of many of my contemporaries have been dulled by rational thinking. In order to revive those feelings and give them their original shape, I fill my paintings with grace, beauty and music.” ...more ››

by Rustam K. Alasgarov

The 19th century found Germany economically weak and politically split into a multitude of independent feudal dominions. These German lands had grand names – kingdoms, duchies, principalities, dukedoms ...more ››

by Anne Thompson

Villa Petrolea – home to one of the world’s oldest oil families and now to one of Baku’s newest museums. The Nobel brothers built Villa Petrolea during Baku’s first oil boom in the 19th century. It stopped being a family home after the revolution when the Bolsheviks invaded Baku, seized the Nobel family assets and Emanuel Nobel had to flee the country ...more ››

by Fiona Maclachlan

With regret we turned down the offer of chay, a regret which is with me still. We had simply run out of that precious commodity – time. The peace, love and warm sincerity which emanated from our host lingers ...more ››

by Aydin Kazimzadeh

“War and peace are the issues of our time. I have not seen war, but on a human level I understand that it is a grave crime against mankind. Everybody knows the havoc war has brought to people. It is no exaggeration to say that today the peoples of the world seek peace, neutrality and full national independence,” wrote actor ...more ››

by Aydin Kazimzadeh

The musical comedy O olmasin, bu olsun (If Not This One, That One!) is an Azerbaijani favourite, well known across the Middle East and former Soviet Union. It was written by composerand playwright, Uzeyir Hajibayov, who wrote Azerbaijan’s first operas. First staged 98 years ago, O olmasin, bu olsun remains an important part of the Azerbaijani theatre ...more ››

by Ian Peart and Saadat Ibrahimova

A rare type of concert was held in the centre of Baku in mid-November – of ashiq music. Although this is one of the most popular forms of Azerbaijani folk music, it is traditionally stronger in the mountainous and western areas of the country – mugham and meykhana are favoured ...more ››

My long journey to the other side of the ocean is over. I can sum up my year-long trip to the “capital of the world”, New York, in this way: lots of impressions, new acquaintances and memorable events, which I will certainly reflect upon.

Here are just a few of the events I was involved in: the raising of the Azerbaijani state flag on Wall Street, Manhattan; a two-hour picket outside the UN headquarters dedicated to the Khojaly tragedy; celebrations on the occasion of the Novruz holiday organized by Azerbaijan’s Permanent Representative Office in the UN; the opening of the first exhibition of Azerbaijani diaspora artists working in the United States; the participation by representatives of the Azerbaijani diaspora in a Turkish march on Seventh Avenue in Manhattan; an official reception given by Azerbaijan’s Permanent Representative Office in the UN at the Turkish Cultural Centre (unfortunately, Azerbaijan does not have a cultural centre in New York) on the occasion of Republic Day and an exhibition of paintings ...more ››

Azerbaijani cuisine is one of the oldest and richest in the world. Hemmed in on three sides by mountains and fanned on the other by the humid breath of the Caspian, Azerbaijan is a model of our planet’s geography. The sea and diversity of terrain have created nine of the Earth’s 11 climate zones here. This adds to the wealth of Azerbaijani cuisine, which has distinctive national traditions and techniques. The fragrances and fl avours of Azerbaijani food delight visitors from around the world. ...more ››

by Sara Nazirova
Dedicated to my elderly grandmother Chichak

There is a village on this earth. There are a thousand houses in that village and its orchards and vegetable gardens are scattered amongst the bushes. Neighbours are separated from one another not by fences but by hedges. If no pastures or collective farm vegetable plots are left ...more ››