Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences

At a meeting of the Presidium of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences (ANAS) held today, a report on the scientific and scientific-organizational activities of the Division of Humanities (DH) for 2025 was heard.

Presenting the report, Scientific Secretary of the Division, PhD in Philology Arzu Mammadkhanli, stated that in Azerbaijan, which is on a path of rapid socio-economic development, 2025 was marked by particularly important achievements for the humanities. She noted that the relevant decrees and orders of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan aimed at preserving the nation’s moral and spiritual values and further researching and promoting its language, literature, and culture in line with modern requirements, as well as state programs, were adopted in 2025 as the main conceptual framework guiding activities in the humanities.

Recalling that 2025 was declared the “Year of the Constitution and Sovereignty” in the country, the speaker said that, in accordance with the action plan related to this designation, scientific institutions organized events titled “The Constitution and Sovereignty in Azerbaijani Art,” “National Statehood and Folklore,” “Azerbaijani Statehood in Classical Sources,” and “Our Constitution and Our Sovereignty,” and arranged exhibitions.

Emphasizing the great importance of the Presidential Decree “On the Celebration of the 80th Anniversary of ANAS” for the scientific community, the speaker noted that, alongside other scientific institutions of ANAS, the scholars and staff of the Division actively participated in jubilee events.

It was noted that in his landmark speech at the 80th anniversary event of ANAS, as well as in his interview with local television channels on January 5, President Ilham Aliyev set serious tasks for scholars working in the humanities regarding the preservation of the purity of the Azerbaijani language. To this end, a meeting was held at the Presidium of ANAS, organized by the Division of Humanities, on the topic “The Requirements Set by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev Regarding the Azerbaijani Language in His Speech at the Academy’s 80th Anniversary Event and the Tasks of ANAS,” during which scholars’ presentations, opinions, and proposals were heard. In addition, a number of ANAS scholars participated in an event at the Milli Majlis titled “Development Strategy of the Azerbaijani Language as the State Language: Current State and Prospects,” as well as a meeting titled “Our Language Is Our Identity” organized by the Azerbaijan Writers’ Union, where they expressed views on scientific support for state language policy, the preparation of the regulatory framework on a scientific basis and its updating in line with contemporary challenges, and the protection of Azerbaijani toponyms. Scholars of the Division regularly gave interviews to television channels on the protection of the Azerbaijani language and published articles in the periodical press.

It was emphasized that the tasks arising from the Presidential Decree “On the Celebration of the 100th Anniversary of the First Turkological Congress” were identified as one of the key priorities of the Division’s activities for 2026. In accordance with the action plan approved by ANAS, relevant instructions were issued to the Division’s scientific institutions. Scholars regularly appeared in the media to promote the significance of the Turkological Congress, a landmark event in the history of the Turkic peoples’ native language.

Measures implemented by the Division on the basis of the Presidential Decrees “On the Celebration of the 140th Anniversary of Uzeyir Hajibeyli,” “On the Celebration of the 100th Anniversary of Bakhtiyar Vahabzadeh,” “On the Celebration of the 190th Anniversary of Seyid Azim Shirvani,” “On the Celebration of the 150th Anniversary of the Azerbaijani National Press,” “On the Celebration of the 90th Anniversary of Fikrat Goja,” and “On the Celebration of the 90th Anniversary of Yusif Samadoglu” were also highlighted.

The speaker noted that relevant provisions of two state programs were implemented at the Division’s scientific institutions. Under the “State Program on the Use of the Azerbaijani Language in Line with the Requirements of the Time in the Context of Globalization and the Development of Linguistics,” a dictionary of Western Azerbaijan dialects is being prepared at the Institute of Linguistics. At the Institute of Manuscripts, the digitization of manuscripts has been successfully ongoing for more than 10 years. At the same time, the implementation of the “First State Program on the Great Return to the Territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan Liberated from Occupation,” approved by President Ilham Aliyev, is being carried out responsibly by the scientific institutions of the Division.

The Scientific Secretary stated that special attention was paid to the topic of Karabakh and East Zangezur at the Division’s institutions, noting that in this regard, a two-volume explanatory dictionary of “Karabakh and East Zangezur” toponyms is being prepared for publication by the Toponymy Department of the Institute of Linguistics. In addition, 10 books on this topic were published in 2025 by other scientific institutions of the Division.

Emphasizing that for many years research has been conducted at the Division’s scientific institutions on the language, literature, folklore, and music of Turkmens living in Iraq, the speaker noted that the work carried out in this field is among the Division’s most successful outcomes.

It was reported that during the reporting year, 5 meetings and 2 General Assemblies of the Division were held, at which 139 issues were considered. In 2025, a total of 483 research projects covering 72 topics within 6 scientific directions and 34 problems were carried out at the Division’s institutions. Of the 72 topics, 35 were completed, and of the 483 projects, 319 were finalized.

It was noted that 15 significant scientific results were achieved by the Division’s 5 research institutions. In addition, humanitarian-oriented institutions not subordinate to ANAS also presented their significant results for 2025. The report included 16 significant results from the Ministry of Science and Education and 7 from the Ministry of Culture. Moreover, an important result achieved by Karabakh University was also presented to the Division.

Referring to publishing activities, it was reported that in 2025, research institutions published 180 books (2 abroad), 95 monographs (15 abroad), and 2,155 articles and theses (366 abroad). Ten articles by staff members were published in impact factor journals. The total number of citations to scientific works by the Division’s scholars reached 1,062. In addition, 958 articles published in scientific journals were assigned DOI (Digital Object Identifier) numbers. During the reporting year, Division staff also published 12 textbooks and 1 teaching aid. Relevant issues of 12 scientific journals were published by the scientific institutions.

In 2025, 534 of the employees working at the Division’s research institutions were researchers, including 95 Doctors of Sciences and 270 PhDs. In addition, in 2025, 122 doctoral and dissertation candidates in PhD programs and 108 doctoral and dissertation candidates in Doctor of Sciences programs were enrolled at the Division’s scientific institutions. A total of 34 researchers defended PhD dissertations and 12 defended Doctor of Sciences dissertations.

In line with the “Digital Development Concept of the Republic of Azerbaijan,” approved by Presidential Decree, and the “Artificial Intelligence Strategy of the Republic of Azerbaijan for 2025–2028,” approved by a relevant Presidential Order, work carried out to integrate digitalization and artificial intelligence into scientific and management systems at the Division’s institutions was also highlighted.

It was reported that during the reporting year, 9 documents were signed between research institutions and international organizations, 7 of which were concluded with academic institutions of Turkic-speaking countries.

Information was also provided on the Division’s human resources and personnel training, measures taken to popularize science, awards, and other related matters.

Following discussions, by decision of the Presidium of ANAS, the report on the scientific and scientific-organizational activities of the Division of Humanities for 2025 was deemed satisfactory, and relevant instructions were issued to the Division.

Translation by Gulhane Aghayeva, Department of Public Relations, Press, and Information, Presidium of ANAS.

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