Professor of Azerbaijan University Asif Hajiyev made a speech at the international congress on “The language policy of the Commonwealth of Independent States” held in Minsk, the capital of the Republic of Belarus. Professor Asif Hajiyev in his report "Russian education in the context of the Azerbaijan multicultural model: language policy, methodology and practice" talked about the tolerant attitude to the culture and languages of different people in Azerbaijan, multiculturalism as one of the priority directions of the life and the state policy of the Azerbaijani people, comprehensive protection of the rights of Russian people, Russian-speaking, and other peoples living in our country. Noting the wide use of the Russian language in our country and the development of Russian-speaking literary and scientific creativity and press, the Professor informed the congress participants about the mass education of the Russian language with concrete facts and statistics.

In the report, it was noted that teaching in Russian and other languages in the educational institutions of Azerbaijan is an integral part of the state education system, and it is conducted on national standards, programs, and textbooks, and it is funded from the state budget. The report also states that Russian-language education is built on the ethnic mentality of the students, and it instills civic identity in them, thereby it serves to strengthen national unity and intercultural tolerance in the country. It is stated that special scientific and methodological criteria have been developed on this purpose.

Information on the harmonious attitude to the language and culture of Russian and other ethnic groups in Azerbaijan provided congressional representatives with a complete picture of our country, and it was evaluated as an exemplary case not observed in all the CIS countries. This conclusion was also reported in foreign media sources. Moldovan Representation of Rossotrudnichestva, the Russian state organization summarized Professor Asif Hajiyev’s speech on its official website: “The Russian language is used less frequently in the Transcaucasia, but at the same time the interest in it is not diminished. Asif Hajiyev, professor of Azerbaijan University, notes that the mass character of Russian-language education in Azerbaijan is determined by the fact that the Russian language is one of the most important historical components of the national polycultural lifestyle.”

The event was attended by over 150 representatives of scientific and educational institutions, public organizations, and the press from 11 CIS countries, including

Azerbaijan. At the opening of the event, the congratulatory message of the Chairman of the CIS Executive Committee Sergey Lebedev was sounded, and the speeches of officials, diplomats, scientists were listened. Teaching languages in the context of multiculturalism and multi-confessionalism, multilingualism and intercultural communication, the role and status of the Russian language in the CIS in modern times, and other such issues were discussed in the sections of the congress.

Public Relations Department
09.12.2019