Society 363 / 2013

aserbaidschan
Interview
courses, which we plan to start this autumn. People
who are interested have the possibility to apply
online for these courses.
Now your second native country Austria
gave you some impressions of our culture.
What are the most commonalities between
the Austrian and the Azerbaijan culture?
Both Austria and Azerbaijan boast a rich cultural
heritage, which has strongly contributed to the
countries’ identity. One of the main similarities between
our countries is the very sensitive attitude
the historical heritage, architecture and historic
monuments. We are very pleased that our countries
showed mutual recognition to our great composers.
While Uzeyir Hajibeyli’s monument was
unveiled in Vienna in 2006, Wolfgang Amadeus
Mozart’s monument was unveiled in Baku in 2010,
with the participation of our countries’ presidents.
The Austrian culture needs no introduction.
The love for music is shared by both Azerbaijanis
and Austrians. One more characteristic of our
two countries is the constant effort to keep their
traditions alive. Tolerance for different cultures,
religions and nationalities is another similarity
between Austria and Azerbaijan.
These two countries gave the world culture distinguished
musicians.
We will do our best to present this uniqueness
of our culture to all our visitors.
Azerbaijan and Austria exhibit considerable
similarities in other respects as well. Both countries
are about the same size and have nearly the
same number of inhabitants. They have also assumed
a strategically important role in their respective
regions. While Austria is considered as a
gateway to Central and Eastern Europe, Azerbaijan
has for years now been expanding its role as a
springboard to Central Asia.
In 2010, the first embassy of Austria was established
in Baku and now the first cultural center
of Azerbaijan opened in Vienna. Why has this relationship
increased in the past few years?
There have always been special relations between
our countries. We should not forget that
»Both Austria
and Azerbaijan
boast a rich
cultural heritage,
which has
strongly contributed
to the
countries‘ identities.
«
Leyla
Gasimova
Facts
Aserbaidschanisches
Kulturzentrum
Wien
Bellariastraße 8
1010 Vienna
www.azculture.at
Azerbaijan has restored its independence just 21
years ago. Nonetheless, last year Azerbaijan celebrated
twenty years of diplomatic relations with
the Republic of Austria. Austria was also one of the
first countries, where Azerbaijan opened its embassy
in 1995. In 2000, late president Heydar Aliyev’s
state visit to Austria took place. The warm relationship
we have now has been built up throughout
the years. But of course, Azerbaijan’s rapid economic
growth in the past few years, as well as the
opening of the Austrian embassy in Baku have considerably
strengthened our relations in all areas.
It should be mentioned that the Embassy of the
Republic of Azerbaijan to Austria and, in particular,
late Ambassador Fuad Ismayilov put a lot of
efforts into this direction. Azerbaijan remains the
only country in the region, where Austria opened
its embassy. Moreover, it was opened in 2010 - at a
time, when the Austrian government was forced to
close several diplomatic missions abroad.
Azerbaijan’s rapid economic development has
also increased the interest of Austrian entrepreneurs
- Azerbaijan has become a favorable market
for them, in particular after the state visit of Dr.
Heinz Fischer and the Austrian - Azerbaijani Business
Forum in Baku in 2011. The restoration of our
capital city Baku’s main sight, the Maiden Tower as
well as the construction of the Carpet Museum is
being carried out by Austrian firms. Furthermore,
Austrian companies were involved in the construction
of the Shakhdag ski resort and the Absheron
Mariott Hotel. We are delighted that such major
projects are implemented in Azerbaijan by Austrian
companies. We are convinced that the opening
of the Azerbaijani cultural centre in Vienna, in
which president Ilham Aliyev participated himself,
will take the relations between our two countries
to a new level. We would like to express our deep
gratitude to the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and personally,
to the First Lady Ms. Mehriban for supporting
and assisting us in the establishment of this
cultural centre as well as for actively promoting
Azerbaijani culture abroad.
I sincerely hope that the Azerbaijani cultural centre
will help Austrians get to know Azerbaijani culture
better. We invite everyone to visit our centre! •
A precious doll of
Elmira Abbasli
Interior of the Azerbaijani
Cultural Center in Vienna
Society 1_2013 | 85