By Azernews

By Amina Nazarli

Azerbaijan provides all peoples living here legal frameworks for the preservation of their language and culture, according to Russian Ambassador to Baku Vladimir Dorokhin.

The ambassador, addressing a conference of public associations of Russian compatriots in Azerbaijan on July 14, said that unlike many other countries, in Azerbaijan the Russian language does not face discrimination, it is widely used, and this attitude is very valuable.  

Dorokhin reminded that Azerbaijan accommodates the largest Russian community in the Caucasus and Russian citizens of Azerbaijan remain its patriots.

Russia is doing a great job to support its compatriots in Azerbaijan, the envoy said, noting that Azerbaijan is an oasis for the Russian language and culture.

Dorokhin  added that today an information war being waged against Russia and the country needs support more than ever.

"Russia is a big and strong country, but any voice of support is valuable and expensive for us, so we are very grateful to Azerbaijan," he said.

He mentioned that in 2016, 202 Azerbaijani students received scholarships from the Russian government to receive education in Russia. Data for 2017, according to the ambassador, is not available yet, but Russia is one of the most popular countries among Azerbaijani students.

In the fields of education and science, the development of Russian language is one of the factors bringing the two countries and nations closer to each other. 

Branches of two prestigious Russian universities – Lomonosov Moscow State University and Sechenov State Medical University in Azerbaijan and a branch of Azerbaijan State Economic University in Derbent successfully operate. Azerbaijani students study at Russian educational institutions, while a total of 90,000 students receive education in Russian language in secondary schools of the country.

Overall, Azerbaijan and the Russian Federation signed more than 90 agreements in various spheres of science, culture and education, which attest to the development of the humanitarian relations. 

Speaking on liquidation of All-Russian Azerbaijani Congress, the ambassador said that the problem with the Congress has nothing to do with politics.

People who were supposed to provide legal support to the Congress could not cope with this, according to Dorokhin. The congress repeatedly received warnings from the Russian Ministry of Justice and did not react in any way.

"We proceed from the premise that all organizations must act within the legislation of the host country," Dorokhin said, adding that all organizations of Russian compatriots operating in Azerbaijan are in compliance with Azerbaijani legislation.

"For Russia, relations with Azerbaijan are of great value, and we hope that this incident will not affect our relations," Dorokhin said.

He noted that appropriate measures will be done to resolve this issue.

The Supreme Court of Russia, on the basis of an appeal by the Justice Ministry of the Russian Federation, liquidated the registration of the All-Russian Azerbaijani Congress on May 15.

The Congress, which unites more than 2 million Azerbaijanis living almost in all regions of Russia, was established in 2001 on the initiative of national leader of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev and President Vladimir Putin.

Throughout 16 years of its activity, the organization has played a huge role in strengthening of civil peace and interethnic harmony in Russia, development and deepening of socio-economic and cultural cooperation between Russia and Azerbaijan.