Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences

A regular meeting of the Presidium of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences was held.

Academician Isa Habibbeyli, the president of ANAS, members of the Presidium, heads of departments of the administration of the Presidium, and relevant individuals participated in the event.

Academician Isa Habibbeyli opened the meeting with an introductory speech and briefed the attendees about the agenda of the event. A report by Academician Isa Habibbeyli, the president of ANAS, titled "New Historical Period and National Idea Concept and Tasks Ahead announced by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Mr. Ilham Aliyev," was presented.

Academician Isa Habibbeyli noted that on January 10, 2024, during an interview with local television channels, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev shared a series of profound thoughts based on national conceptual values. The head of state described the full restoration of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, achieved with the Victory in the Patriotic War and anti-terrorism measures in September 2023, as a new era of our modern history.

The head of ANAS stated that due to the far-sighted policy pursued over a long period by President Ilham Aliyev and his role as Supreme Commander-in-Chief, the Karabakh issue had been completely solved, and Azerbaijan had fully restored its territorial integrity and sovereignty.

“This is a great mission of President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Mr. Ilham Aliyev in Azerbaijan's centuries-old statehood. Name of the head of state is written in gold letters in the history of Azerbaijan”-said Academician.

Academician Isa Habibbeyli recalled the thoughts of President Ilham Aliyev: “Our main national idea was to liberate our territories. In other words, the whole nation was united around this idea, around this goal and we have already achieved this. And therefore, of course I have my own thoughts about further development and in many cases they will be of course decisive. But I would like discussions about this issue to take place in society as well, among politicians, political scientists, scientists, intellectuals, that is, what should be our main national idea regarding our future development. This should be a topic for public discussion.”

Academician Isa Habibbeyli said that this call of the head of state has set a special task for intellectuals and scientists of Azerbaijan.

The head of ANAS noted that our scientists promptly responded to the new conceptual approach and calls put forward by the head of state. In January and April of this year, with the participation of prominent intellectuals and scholars in the fields of humanities and social sciences, extensive discussions on the topic of "A New Historical Period and the National Idea" took place at ANAS, during which valuable proposals were put forward.

Academician Isa Habibbeyli noted that ideology and idea are closely related concepts, and the main ideology of our state is the ideology of Azerbaijanism defined by the National Leader Heydar Aliyev: “During the discussions, it was particularly emphasized that the basic part of the future national idea should be composed of this ideology. Overall, the discussions produced proposals such as "strong leader," "strong state," "strong nation," "Great Return," "national unity," "social welfare," "Turkic unity," "modernization," "digital development," "culture of dialogue," and others. These 48 proposals were generalized into 8. From a content and direction standpoint, the national idea should be conceptual and clear. National ideology is realized through the national idea and guides society towards a collective future, taking into account historical backgrounds, national mental characteristics, and challenges of the time. As the state develops, national ideology continues to evolve through national ideas that emerge in accordance with the demands of the time”.

In his address, Academician Isa Habibbeyli presented 8 generalized proposals. The extensive discussions involved the participation of academicians such as Arif Hashimov, Ibrahim Guliyev, Rasim Aliguliyev, Irada Huseynova, Nizami Jafarov, Adil Garibov, corresponding members of ANAS Musa Gasimli, Ertegin Salamzade, Professors Karim Shukurov, Nadir Mammadli, Ilham Mammadzade, Abulhasan Abbasov, Doctor of Philosophy Fuzuli Gurbanov, PhD in History Namig Mammadov, and others.

Academician Isa Habibbeyli noted that during the discussions, scientists came to a common opinion on Azerbaijan's future national idea- "A Stronger Azerbaijan, Turkic Unity, Digital Development, and Strategic Partnership."

According to the decision of the Presidium, the Academy and scientists have to consider the mentioned national idea in their future research processes and promotion efforts.

Next, the report by the director of the Atatürk Center in Azerbaijan, Academician Nizami Jafarov, titled "Turkishness, Turkism, and Turkology in Azerbaijan" was also discussed at the regular meeting of the Presidium of ANAS.  

First, the president of ANAS, Academician Isa Habibbeyli, spoke, stating that in recent years, under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev, our country has taken a central place in the Turkic world. The words spoken by the head of state at the inauguration ceremony, "We have no other family. Our family is the Turkic world," confirm our republic's relationship with the Turkic world.

Academician Isa Habibbeyli mentioned that recently an informal summit of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) was held in Shusha, where the historical "Karabakh Declaration" was signed. He noted that the Heads of State of OTS highly appreciate President Ilham Aliyev's significant contribution to the unity, solidarity, security, and prosperity of the Turkic world.

The head of ANAS drew attention to the fact that 98 years ago, the First Turkology Congress, which united the Turkic world for the first time, was held in Baku, and Azerbaijan is considered the center of global Turkology today, as it was historically.

Academician Isa Habibbeyli said that according to the priorities set forth by the head of state, the National Academy of Sciences is conducting important research related to the Turkic world, many departments are operating in this direction in the scientific institutions and organizations of ANAS, and relations with scientific bodies in Turkic countries are expanding.

He continued that, the report on this topic had been presented at the meeting of the Presidium for the first time and this event is part of the preparations for the centenary of the First Turkology Congress.

Later, the director of the Ataturk Center in Azerbaijan, Academician Nizami Jafarov reported on “Turkishness, Turkism and Turkology in Azerbaijan”.

In his report, academician Nizami Jafarov, stated that since the beginning of the 20^th century, the ideology of Turkism has taken on a systematic character in Azerbaijan. It has developed and reached our days thanks to the efforts of Alimardan bey Topchubashov, Ahmed bey Agaoglu, Ali bey Huseynzade, and other Turkic people. The scientist noted that in the modern period, there is extensive integration of Turkic peoples, which has led to a significant need for the study of common Turkic culture and the genesis of Turkic peoples.

"To understand the state of Turkology in Azerbaijan, it is first necessary to determine what 'Turkishness' is. This is a somewhat abstract concept, but without explanation, it is impossible to clarify the concepts of “Turkism” and “Turkology.” “Turkism” is an ideology. For us, the traditional Turkishness is the epic “Kitabi-Dede Gorgud” (“Book of Dede Gorgud”). The epic tells about the Oguzs of Azerbaijan. However, the people forgot this epic. We only remembered it and began to study at the end of the 19^th and the beginning of the 20^th century. During certain periods, the epic was banned, but the National Leader returned it to our people."-said Nizami Jafarov.

The scientist reported that for a long time, the ideology of Turkism in Azerbaijan was significantly influenced by both internal and external forces. Turkology, as a science, was formed in Europe for the study of Turkic peoples, and in Azerbaijan, the foundation of Turkology was laid by Bekir Chobanzade.

The Academician noted that a significant contribution of the Soviet government to the development of Turkology in Azerbaijan was the invitation of influential scholars from Turkey and other Turkic countries to our country before the First Turkology Congress was convened. This initiative helped the field to begin its development.

In his report, the scientist also discussed the parameters of Azerbaijanism, Turkishness, modernity (universality) in linguistics, literary studies, cultural studies, and historiography of Azerbaijan, as well as the processes of differentiation and integration.

Following this, academician Govkhar Bakhshaliyeva, Doctor of Historical Sciences Zemfira Gadirova, Professor Ismayil Kazimov, PhD in Philosophy Faig Alekperli, and others spoke, sharing their thoughts and suggestions. They highly appreciated the presentation of the report on this topic at the meeting of the Presidium.

The meeting also addressed scientific and organizational issues.

Speaking about the state registration of the logotype (emblem) of ANAS, academician Isa Habibbeyli reported that a request for the state registration of the logotype (emblem) of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan as a trademark and object of copyright in the Republic of Azerbaijan was submitted to the Intellectual Property Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The academician noted that as a result of this, the ANAS logo (emblem) passed state registration, and the Intellectual Property Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan issued a trademark certificate and a certificate of state registration of rights to the copyright object.

The scientific departments and centers, institutions and organizations of ANAS, as well as the departments of the administration of Presidium of ANAS, were instructed to ensure the proper use of the images of the ANAS logotype (emblem) that have passed state registration.

Academician Isa Habibbeyli also spoke about his trip to the People's Republic of China, which took place from June 11 to June 18, 2024. During the trip, he attended meetings at Hebei Academy of Social Sciences, the Zhejiang Scientific Center (Zhuji) of International Core Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Beijing Foreign Studies University, Department of Azerbaijani Language at BFSU, and the Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF). He discussed signed agreements and his participation in the international scientific conference titled “From the Caspian Sea to China: Literature, Technology, and Social Life” held in Shijiazhuang city.

Later, a decision was adopted on the results of the visit of honorary member of ANAS and Nobel Prize laureate Aziz Sancar to the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan.

Then, the head of the Department of Science and Education of the administration of the Presidium of ANAS, doctor of philological sciences  Sarhan Khaveri, presented an overview of the semi-annual reports on the scientific and scientific-organizational activities of institutions and organizations, regional research centers of ANAS for the first half of 2024.

At the same time, the meeting discussed the issue of awarding prizes to ANAS staff for publishing articles in journals with impact factors for the first half of 2024. Academic Secretary of ANAS, Academician Arif Hashimov, listed the names of scientists whose articles were published in journals with impact factors.

Next issue discussed at the meeting was establishment of the doctoral program at the Republican Seismic Survey Center of ANAS. Taking into account the relevance and scientific level of the fundamental research conducted at the Republican Seismic Survey Center, the scientific potential of the center, achievements in priority areas, existing material and technical resources, published scientific works, and participation in international scientific projects and programs, a decision was adopted to establish a doctoral program at the Republican Seismic Survey Center. A request was also made to the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan in this regard.

Following this decision, the meeting discussed the approval of the dictionary "Encyclopedia of Western Azerbaijan."

Academician Isa Habibbeyli reported that after discussions held by the Working Group, a dictionary consisting of 2595 words was presented to the Presidium. Academician Isa Habibbeyli mentioned that certain changes and additions were made by him to the dictionary. He highly praised the work of the Working Group and instructed the group to shorten the dictionary to 2000 words.

In his speech, Aziz Alekperli, Chairman of the Western Azerbaijan Community and a member of the Working Group, noted that the community has functioning commissions covering all spheres. He proposed to hold a final discussion on the dictionary with the participation of the leadership of ANAS and these commissions.

The next issue discussed at the Presidium meeting of ANAS was the establishment of the Department of the History of Philosophical Thought and Modern Philosophy of Turkic Peoples at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of ANAS.

The importance of researching the history of philosophical thought of Turkic peoples, which possess a rich scientific and cultural heritage, was discussed at the meeting. It was noted that studying this history, especially within the context of modern requirements, is crucial for forming the foundational principles of Turkic Unity. Studying the cultural and philosophical heritage of the Turkic World from past to present, and understanding the common thinking and thought processes is one of the essential factors. Additionally, the uniform formation of philosophical ideas of different thinkers of Turkic peoples is also relevant.

Considering the discussions at the meeting, a Department of the History of Philosophical Thought and Modern Philosophy of Turkic peoples, at the expense of internal resources, was established at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of ANAS.

During the meeting, decisions regarding establishment of the "Elm TV and Multimedia" fund, at the expense of internal resources, for the storage of audio and video materials reflecting ANAS activities in the Scientific Heritage Department of the administration of the Presidium of ANAS, approval of the list of multi-volume scientific works and the publishing plan of ANAS, approval of the "Regulation of the Central Scientific Library of ANAS”, termination of the doctoral program at the Institute of History and Ethnology of ANAS named after Abbasgulu Aga Bakikhanov for PhD in history, dissertator Shamil Rahmanzade, based on his request, approval of the new composition of the Academic Council of the Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology of ANAS were adopted.

Then, head of the Document and Protocol Department of the administration of the Presidium of ANAS, PhD in philology, Esmer Aliyeva, gave information on the preparations for transitioning to electronic document management at ANAS and the upcoming tasks.

The discussions were also continued on establishment of Regional Complex Seismic Monitoring Center for Karabakh and Eastern Zangezur on the base of the Shusha-Dashalti Deep Well Seismic Station, jointly installed by the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) of Turkey and the Republican Seismic Survey Center of ANAS.

The director of the Republican Seismic Survey Center of ANAS, corresponding member of ANAS, Gurban Yetirmishli gave detailed information about the seismic station installed in Shusha, its activities, the location of the building of the center to be established and directions of activities.

At the meeting, a series of decisions were adopted on the above-mentioned issue.

Further, Vice-President of ANAS, Academician Irada Huseynova, reported on the outcomes of her business trip to Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences of Federal Republic of Germany, June 17-19, 2024 and participation in the International Congress on Biochemistry, Structural, and Molecular Biology held on June 20-21, 2024 in Barcelona.

Decisions were made regarding the 70th anniversary of Academician Rafael Huseynov, the 85th anniversary of Academician Ramiz Rizayev, the 70th anniversary of Corresponding Member of ANAS Geylani Panakhov, the 75th anniversary of Corresponding Member of ANAS Hajifakhraddin Safarli, and the 100th anniversary of Corresponding Member of ANAS Rahim Huseynov.

Translator: Reyhan Majidli, Public Relations, Press and Information Department of the Presidium Administration of ANAS

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