Academics are puzzled: it's time for Azerbaijani science to get down to business

On November 3, a meeting dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan was held. President Ilham Aliyev delivered a speech at the event. The Head of State also made a speech at the meeting on the occasion of the previous round date, but today everything has changed. Azerbaijan has changed, the region has changed, and each of us has changed. And these changes require new approaches, new accents.

Ten years ago, Azerbaijani science, as well as the life of society in general, were under pressure from the situation related to the loss of territories, with bitter memories of the tragedies experienced by our people. The factor of the Armenian occupation cast a shadow over every undertaking, even if we tried not to talk about it.

In 2025, we are already living in a completely different reality. As the President said in his speech at ANAS, today Azerbaijan owns all sovereign lands. There are no occupation troops on our territory. There are no foreign military formations on our territory. Today we are building and building on these lands. We live with the realization that there is no other country in the world that has won such a brilliant, complete and absolute victory as Azerbaijan.

Our science and our economy must adapt to the new situation. Over the years, the world has changed, and now leadership is determined not by resources, but by technological development. This also applies to the military sphere and the military industry. And here, of course, special tasks fall on the shoulders of Azerbaijani science.

The Head of State is right to point out that modern wars are technologically advanced. Azerbaijan was the first to show the war of the 21st century. The Second Karabakh War demonstrated that technology accounts for half of the success in current wars. And over time, this indicator will grow. In its new status, Azerbaijan should not only enjoy the fruits of other people's scientific thought, but also begin to promote its own science. Both in the direction of peaceful goals and in the direction of defense.

It is no coincidence that President Ilham Aliyev has repeatedly pointed out in his speech that in one area or another, including the military industry, special tasks are assigned to domestic scientists, which opens up a wide field of activity for our science. The Head of state called technological development a top priority and placed the main responsibility for solving this problem on Azerbaijani scientists. He stressed that the development of countries is determined not by natural resources, but by the intellectual potential of society, the development of technology and science. And natural resources are just an opportunity to channel the funds received from their export into human capital and technology development so that our development is sustainable in the future. Natural resources are finite, and intellectual potential is an inexhaustible wealth, the head of state believes.

I would like to note here that for many years we have not heard anything about the discoveries and successes of Azerbaijani scientists. The ANAS system includes many scientific institutions frozen at the level of the early 90s. Whereas the Academy of Sciences should be a living organism that develops, grows and bears fruit. NANA must keep up with the changes that are taking place, fit into them, help new talents show up, motivate, and not demotivate young people. Today, ANAS appears to be a block of ice in which scientific thought is frozen and immobilized. It is necessary to return enthusiasm to our science. It is enthusiasm that leads to search and discovery.

I would very much like the names of our scientists to resound on a global level, as they once did, and for foreign luminaries to refer to the discoveries and developments of Azerbaijani specialists in their works. This is not fiction. It has already happened and it can be returned. To restore the appropriate aura of the Academy of Sciences is the task of both government agencies and the scientific community itself.

Domestic science should be at the forefront in the fight against the various threats that still exist for Azerbaijan. It may seem strange, but one of the means of neutralizing threats is historical science. It is no secret that for many years this science has been under pressure from interests alien to us. Our history has been written and rewritten in the interests of powers and unkind neighbors. The Azerbaijani people were deprived of the opportunity to study their real history.

"Unfortunately, our rich history has been distorted by Armenia and the Armenian Diaspora for many years, and propaganda against us in this direction continues today. Therefore, we must defend our own truth. I spoke about this 10 years ago at the 70th anniversary of the Academy. Today I also want to say that we must study and promote our history. Azerbaijani citizens and Azerbaijani youth should know our rich history. They should know that the history of the Azerbaijani people, the history of our statehood, and the ability of our people to create have a long history," President Ilham Aliyev said, speaking at ANAS.

I remembered how, shortly before the war, the head of state participated in the opening of the military unit in Mingachevir and addressed the military personnel. He then stated that every soldier and officer should have a complete understanding of the history of our country, both ancient and modern. The president was talking about a real story.

These words provoked a response in the expert community, where they talked about the importance of Azerbaijan creating a historical concept that would allow new generations to be motivated and well versed in historical realities. To do this, it is necessary to make great efforts, study sources, dig into archives, get rid of old, imposed concepts and form your own, which is based on the national and strategic interests of Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijani people.

This is exactly what President Ilham Aliyev has been talking about all the time. And what should be emphasized is that the new concept of Azerbaijan's history, which meets the realities, does not pose a threat to anyone. After the publication of the text of the Azerbaijani President's speech at ANAS, there was a lot of noise in Armenian public media about the "threat", about alleged plans to "seize" the territories of a neighbor. The hysteria was caused by the words about the prospect of the return of Azerbaijanis to their historical lands in Armenia. But the hysterics tried not to pay attention to the most important thing, which the Azerbaijani leader said at the same time. He said:

"Azerbaijanis have never been infected with the disease of separatism. Our people have contributed to the statehood of the countries in which they live, and today Azerbaijanis in no country create and will not create problems for any state or other people. Therefore, the return of Azerbaijanis to present-day Armenia should not frighten the people and the state of Armenia. I've been talking about this for a long time. We must return to our historical lands not by tanks, but by cars."

There is nothing threatening in the fact that everyone will know the historical name of present-day Sevan. There is no Sevan on the ancient maps drawn up by non-Azerbaijanis, there is Goyche. The same applies to many other toponyms and hydronyms. These facts are well known to the world science, but for the sake of the Armenians they have always been hidden in the archives. In Soviet times, the historical concept imposed on Azerbaijan turned it into a kind of entity that appeared it is unclear how, when and from where. According to the same logic, the issue of the return of forcibly expelled Azerbaijanis to Armenia has never been raised in the world. No one was moved by the fact that several hundred thousand people suddenly disappeared from the demographic picture of this republic. Therefore, historical truth is needed, and not at the level of experts and journalists, but at the level of science, specifically the Academy of Sciences. This truth should be based on sources and a scientific approach. There are a lot of sources, all you need is a serious approach and diligence. As the President of ANAS said, serious scientific work on history is needed.

And yet - this truth should sound not only for us. This is a very important condition. It needs to be brought to the world scientific community and popularized. The whole world knows only the Armenian "truth" so far. This needs to change. 

Our army has done the impossible by liberating the lands after thirty years of occupation. Now it's the turn of our scientists to smash the piles of historical lies. This job does not seem so difficult for Azerbaijan. After all, as President Ilham Aliyev said, Azerbaijan has never been as strong as it is today.