President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev have attended the inauguration ceremony of the Kurmangazy Children’s Creativity Center in the city of Fuzuli.

During the opening ceremony, the heads of state met with Azerbaijan’s culture and art figures, residents of the city of Fuzuli, and children who will attend the Kurmangazy Children’s Creativity Center.

President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said:

– I am very glad to see you here, on the blessed Azerbaijani land.

As you know, I am on a state visit to your country, which started yesterday and continues today. I am very pleased that this visit has been a total success – the signing of extremely important documents that will give the most serious impetus to further development of multifaceted cooperation between our countries. We are brotherly peoples, we are allies, strategic partners. These are not just words, but substantial amount of work that the governments of our countries have ahead, as the agreements are very serious, very significant, and they will undoubtedly give an impulse to the development of our economies, which is extremely important. Therefore, I look with great optimism towards the future cooperation between our states.

We pay great attention to the development and strengthening of ties in the cultural and humanitarian spheres. The Days of Kazakhstani Culture were celebrated here with great success. Yesterday, I expressed my gratitude for the warm welcome. We look forward to hosting Azerbaijani cultural figures in Kazakhstan.

I am very grateful for the decision of the esteemed President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Heydarovich Aliyev, to name a street in the city of Sumgayit after the renowned educator of Kazakhstan, Akhmet Baitursynov. At the same time, last year, together with the honorable President, we inaugurated a street named after the great statesman Heydar Aliyev in our capital. Such initiatives will undoubtedly continue.

Once again, I congratulate you on the sacred holiday of Ramadan. I wish you all the best.

This is our gift on behalf of the people of Kazakhstan. On behalf of the government and at my personal instruction, this gift is presented by a private company – BI Group. And this is from the bottom of our hearts, from the entire nation. I believe that this facility will undoubtedly serve for the benefit, strengthening of all kinds of ties, comprehensive ties between our countries.

I wish you success and prosperity. There is no doubt that this blessed region of Azerbaijan will experience powerful development. I have just listened to the presentation of the future master plan, and it is truly impressive in its scale and intensity. Thank you.

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President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said:

– Thank you very much, esteemed Kassym-Jomart Kemelevich.

On behalf of the residents of Fuzuli, our public, and the entire Azerbaijani nation, I want to once again express our gratitude to you for such a brotherly gift. Establishment of a Children’s Creativity Center on the liberated lands is your personal initiative. The last time you visited Azerbaijan a year and a half ago, a presentation of this center was made. Within just a year, the center was built and is officially opening its doors today. The center bears the name of the great son of the Kazakh people, Kurmangazy.

As we discussed yesterday, this will not only be a Children’s Creativity Center but also a center of friendship and brotherhood between Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. Every such project reached out to the soul of the Azerbaijani people because for 30 years the parents, grandfathers and grandmothers of these children lived with the dream of returning to their lands. And when they returned and saw the devastated Karabakh, completely levelled to the ground, they experienced very bitter feelings. These were the feelings of bitterness mixed with joy because they had returned. Now, with the assistance of fraternal Kazakhstan, a fabulous Children’s Creativity Center is opening in Fuzuli. We sincerely thank you personally for this initiative. It will be etched in the memory of all Azerbaijanis, both those living here and those are not, everyone who will come here and behold this beautiful building. And most importantly, these children who have come here – many from Baku, Sumgayit, and other big cities – they have come here because it is the call of their soul, the call of their ancestors. When we look around – the people living in Fuzuli, most of them were born after Fuzuli was occupied or were very young and hardly saw their native city and district, have returned here because they belong to this land, to the blessed land of Karabakh, for which we fought, shed blood, and lost our sons.

Today, when Karabakh is reviving, it is a great honor to welcome our dear brother, the President of brotherly Kazakhstan, the largest country of the Turkic world, a country that demonstrates very impressive growth, a major actor in the international arena and an ally of Azerbaijan. You must have followed our meetings yesterday and you were also with us in the evening. And you must have felt this atmosphere as well. Apart from the business component of our communication, it is the moral bond that makes us stronger. I congratulate you and would like to thank Kassym-Jomart Kemelevich again on your behalf.

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev: I would like to wish the young citizens of Azerbaijan, the residents of the blessed city of Fuzuli happiness and every success.

President Ilham Aliyev: I will introduce our representatives. The Chairman of the Writers’ Union, Anar.

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev: Yes, I know him.

President Ilham Aliyev: The Rector of the National Conservatory. The People’s Writer, you probably know his books.

People’s Writer Chingiz Abdullayev: I have written about his father.

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev: Thank you.

President Ilham Aliyev: Head of the National Conservatory. Chairman of the Union of Architects.

Chairman of the Union of Architects Elbay Gasimzade: I have a Kazakh name, my name is Elbay. My father named me in honor of his friend, who died at the frontlines of WWII.

President Ilham Aliyev: This is a well-known film director, Ogtay Mirgasimov, People’s Artist and Rector of the Academy of Arts, Natig Aliyev, and our young talents.

Teacher Mehin Orujova: Dear Mr. Presidents. We welcome you to Karabakh land, which is an ancient historical center of Azerbaijani culture. We are grateful to you, Mr. President Ilham Aliyev, you have brought us back to our lands. We are grateful to you and our glorious Army.

It is a significant day for us and our children today. Today marks the opening of the Fuzuli Children’s Creativity Center, which is named after the great representative of national culture of Kazakhstan, patriarch of Kazakh folk music, Kurmangazy Sagyrbayuly. We are thankful to the President of Kazakhstan, Mr. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, and through him, to all the people of Kazakhstan for such a wonderful center. Many thanks to the leaders of the two states on behalf of all natives of Fuzuli for caring about the development of children’s creative activity.

Children will study not only Azerbaijani but also Kazakh culture in this center. The Kurmangazy Children’s Creativity Center will become a symbol of friendship between Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan.

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev: Thank you very much. Indeed, Kurmangazy is a titan of Kazakh music. One can even say that he is an integral part of the entire Turkic culture. It is difficult to imagine Kazakh music without the name of Kurmangazy. I must say his music is very dynamic and still quite modern. The famous “Kuy Saryarka” is still quite popular.

President Ilham Aliyev: This is why his works will be studied here, of course.

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The heads of state cut the ribbon symbolizing the opening of the Kurmangazy Children’s Creativity Center.

The presidents posed for photographs.

Subsequently, both country’s leaders toured the Children’s Creativity Center to familiarize themselves with the facilities and amenities.

The Kurmangazy Children’s Creativity Center built at the initiative of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev is a gift from the fraternal Kazakh people to the Azerbaijani people. With its foundation laid in March 2023, the center occupies an area of 1.5 hectares, boasting a construction area spanning 2700 square meters. This two-story building is outfitted with all essential facilities to cater to the extracurricular educational needs of 600 children across multiple shifts. The Center hosts an array of facilities, including lecture hall, chess and culinary classrooms, studios for fine arts and sculpture, choreography and sports hall, sound recording studios, music and vocal classrooms, study rooms for photo-video editing, web design, robotics, 3D modeling and an assembly hall. The Center will place a special emphasis on IT startups and Azerbaijan’s national culture, including carpet weaving.

The development and execution of the project were spearheaded by the BI Group, leveraging cutting-edge technologies and drawing upon the firm’s extensive expertise garnered over the years.

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President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev: This bus is our gift, a gift from Kazakhstan to children. Please use it. It bears the sign “children” which is the same in our languages.

President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you.

Representative of Kazakhstan: Assembled in Kazakhstan.

President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you very much.

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev: I am very glad that you liked it. This is our gift from the bottom of our hearts to the brotherly people of Azerbaijan. I know that Azerbaijan has tremendous potential and you could have done everything yourself, but we should always show our brotherly feelings in such a material form.

Participants of the event: Thank you.

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