Inauguration of a bust of Imadeddin Nasimi, great Azerbaijani poet of the 14^th – 15^th centuries, took place in the Moscow State International Relations Institute, November 19.

Vice-president of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Leyla Aliyeva attended the inauguration ceremony.

Inauguration of Nasimi’s bust took place in the framework of the Nasimi-Poetry, Art and Morality Festival held in Moscow, with the organizational support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, supported by the Embassy of Azerbaijan in Russia.

Leyla Aliyeva addressed the ceremony:

Today, we gathered here at an event dedicated to great poet, philosopher and thinker Nasimi. Nasimi lived and created in the 14^th – 15^th centuries. He has played a great role in the advancement of the Azerbaijani literature, creating master pieces of the Azerbaijani poetry and laying the foundation of the Azerbaijani language. Nasimi’s poetry is continuing to live and be urgent today too. In September this year, a moral and poetic creativity festival was held in Azerbaijan for the first time. A series of events – poetry, music and dance evenings, shows, exhibitions, video installations, yoga and meditations – were organized in the framework of the festival. All these were done to look into the depth of the supreme consciousness.

The events took place in Shamakhy-Nasimi’s hometown, Gala and Ateshgah Temple reserves and, of course, in Baku. 30 events were held in the course of four days. Nasimi’s philosophy is so profound that it is capable to perceive infinity, fathom deep layers of the human mind, and interpret many events. We are very grateful and happy that today we are inaugurating a bust of this poet of genius in the building of the Moscow State International Relations Institute. This is very urgent for us too, as one of our duties and wishes is to ensure that people get to know Nasimi, read his poetry, and this poetry continues to live. Truth is a notion about time. Beauty, love and nature are Nasimi’s inexhaustible source of inspiration. The great poet thought that in order to find the truth, one should penetrate the depth of human mind and see its beauty and benevolence.

Thank you all!. I want to thank rector of the Moscow State International Relations Institute Anatoli Torkunov, pro-rector Artyom Malgin, director of the institute’s library Marina Reshetnikova and, of course, the author of this beautiful work Mahmud Rustamov.

Then, Leyla Aliyeva read her own poem.

Rector of the Institute, academician Anatoli Torkunov and ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the Russian Federation Polad Bulbuloghlu spoke at the ceremony.

At the opening ceremony, actor of the Yevgeny Vakhtangov Moscow State Academic Theatre Eldar Tramov read Nasimi’s poems, accompanied by tarzan Gorkhmaz Akhundov.