Dear compatriots!

Yesterday we celebrated Victory Day. Today is National Flag Day.

Honorable President, and Supreme Commander-in-Chief Mr. Ilham Aliyev yesterday received the military parade dedicated to the 3rd anniversary of our great Victory in the Patriotic War in Karabakh, in the city of Khankendi. The sound of proud, resolute steps of the brave soldiers of our Armed Forces spread from Khankendi to the whole world. At these moments, the hearts of us – every Azerbaijani – were beating with a sense of immense joy.

Long live our Victory! Long live the victorious Commander-in-Chief, the architect of our victories!

I wish God’s mercy to our martyrs who died for the freedom of our land and the restoration of our state sovereignty, healing to our veterans, and good health to our soldiers and officers standing guard of our Motherland and Flag!
The flag is an expression of the honor and dignity of our nation and state, as well as a sign of our martyrs, those who died without blinking an eye for the Motherland.

Today, our tricolor flag flies in all our territories. It is the third year that the National Flag Day is also celebrated in the lands of Azerbaijan that were freed from occupation.

Always fly high, Azerbaijan Flag!

Azer Askerov

My participation in the world championship among judo masters in Abu Dhabi as part of the national team of judo veterans of Azerbaijan will forever remain in my memory as one of the most important events in my sports life.

Any competition is, first of all, a serious test: a test of how to pass the preparatory stage, and how to demonstrate the will and ability to fight. I must admit that it was very important for me to perform successfully in the tournament held in 2023, which was declared the Year of Heydar Aliyev in our country due to the 100th anniversary of the Great Leader. The competition held in Abu Dhabi was the first serious tournament and test for me after the successful military operations to free our ancestral lands from occupation after the pandemic and the 2020 Patriotic War, local anti-terrorist measures that ended with the Azerbaijani flag flying over Khankendi again.

I really wanted to be a champion, to support the winning spirit that reigns in our society. I am very happy and proud that I managed to become the world champion. When I stood on the podium and the whole hall listened to the national anthem of Azerbaijan and looked at the country’s proudly raised flag, I could hardly stop myself from blushing. That’s why the gold medal of the world championship held in the capital of the United Arab Emirates will always be especially dear to me.

At a time when our national flag was raised in Khankendi and other cities of Karabakh, it was very important for me to raise our flag in honor of the victory of Azerbaijani sports. I am very glad that already on the first day of the championship, on the eve of Victory Day and National Flag Day, I was able to contribute to the winning spirit of our country.

The raising of the Azerbaijani flag and the playing of our national anthem in honor of the victory of the Azerbaijani judokas at the awarding ceremony made me feel extremely proud of my beloved country. Feeling infinite gratitude to the soldiers of the Azerbaijan Army who won Victory on the battlefields in Karabakh under the command of the President of Azerbaijan, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev, we felt very happy as representatives of the victorious people and the victorious state.

Azer Askerov

Maxim Shevchenko needs no further introduction in Azerbaijan. I would say with certainty that he is known in almost every home… Maxim’s stubbornness and fearlessness in the issue of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, taking an objective position despite the numerous threats of the Armenians and their patrons, are admirable. His in-depth knowledge of the history of the conflict, as well as his exposure to Armenian frauds, made him an expert whose opinions attract attention not only in Azerbaijan but in different parts of the world.

That is why his arrival in Baku, his meeting with the public on the topic of “Heydar Jamal’s life path”, and the presentation of our compatriot’s books caused great interest. For two days, on October 6 and 7, the International Mugham Center in Baku witnessed a very remarkable event – a meeting with the well-known Russian political scientist and journalist Maksim Shevchenko.

The evening began with Maxim’s fascinating story about his meetings with Heydar Jamal, a prominent political and social figure, philosopher, theologian, poet, and author of several books. He shared his memories about this amazing Azerbaijani, and how he discovered Azerbaijan through this talented person. Shevchenko talked about Jamal’s view of many regional problems, including his predictions regarding the development of the Karabakh conflict, which he considers his teacher. It should be noted that Heydar Jamal announced his predictions long before the beginning of the liberation war in September 2020, and what this Russian thinker said came true.

Shevchenko’s skilfully prepared monologue, which was repeatedly interrupted by applause, immediately aroused great interest and charmed the participants of the evening. The questions asked by the audience were varied and numerous. Personally, I was impressed by the depth of knowledge and youth of those who came to meet him. Their questions reflected not only their interest in geopolitical events but also their deep understanding of various philosophical currents.

Maksim Shevchenko created an interesting and productive dialogue environment and answered every question with high professionalism. We were all immersed in a world of ideas and analysis during the nearly four-hour meeting that flew by like an instant.

Thank you for the interesting evening and your position, Maxim!

Azer Askerov

I pray for God’s mercy for all our martyrs and healing for our veterans! Our respect for them is eternal! Long live the Azerbaijani Army!

Azer Askerov

After the brilliant victories of Azerbaijan’s junior and young judokas in the world and European championships, our senior national team also pleased us with their success. Our judokas won 3 gold, 1 silver, and 1 bronze medal at the judo “Grand Slam” tournament held at the National Gymnastics Arena in Baku on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of National Leader Heydar Aliyev, and became the first team in this prestigious competition. This victory is an expression of infinite respect for the spirit of the Great Leader.

Gold of Yashar Najafov (-66 kg), Hidayat Heydarov (-73 kg) and Zelim Tchkayev (-81 kg), who also trained at “Judo Club 2012”, silver of Leyla Aliyeva (-48 kg), “Judo Club 2012” member Zelim Kotsoyev (-100 kg) won a bronze medal, gave a great sense of pride to the Azerbaijani judo family.

The tournament took place in the conditions of a very intense sports competition. The strongest judokas from 61 countries came to Baku. The tournament was held at the highest level by the relevant state institutions of Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijan Judo Federation.

The fact that the first days of the competition coincided with the time when our heroic Army carried out anti-terrorist measures in Karabakh, which ended with victory, naturally brought a high spirit of fighting and victory to the members of our national team.

The modern state of Azerbaijan is winning great victories under the wise and decisive leadership of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Honorable President Ilham Aliyev. The success of sports in our country, including judo, is the result of the attention and care shown by the head of state to this field.

I congratulate every member of the judo family, athletes, and coaching staff on the occasion of their victory in the “Grand Slam” tournament, and I wish them success in the next Olympic year!

Azer Askerov

Today, the Judo Grand Slam tournament dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the genius Heydar Aliyev has started in Baku. These competitions are a significant event in the world of judo and are the most prestigious tournament for judokas from all over the world.

I wish success to all athletes – those who come to our capital, especially my brothers and sisters in the Azerbaijan national team. They deserve the brightest victories.
Good luck!!!

Azer Askerov

September 15 is a particularly joyful day for all of us, including me! Because I send my grandchildren off to school, and I must honestly admit that I feel like I’m going to class again, I’m in a hurry to meet my teachers and classmates… I’m both happy and worried, but in all cases, I believe that everything will be great for my grandchildren. I think all grandparents, just like parents, experience joyous excitement when the new school year begins.

Yes, the 2023 school year is significant for our country because we witnessed the opening of new schools in Fuzuli and Lachin. 15 teachers will teach 160 children for the first time in the school opened in Fuzuli this year. In Lachin, the first bell rang in the restored school after 32 years.

Of course, we are all proud of this, proud of our country and its achievements. This shows that, despite the difficulties, we are able to restore our native land and create security for the future of our children and grandchildren.

Let’s remember how the village of Agali, destroyed by Armenian vandals, was completely restored as soon as possible after the great Victory won in 2020 by the order of the President, Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev… Just one year after the end of the war, classes began in the newly built school in the village, and the returning conditions were created for the residents to live normally. Before that, back in 2016, Lalatape strategic height and other areas were freed from occupation, and the teaching process was resumed in Chochug Marjanli village of Jabrayil district.

It is gratifying that the first stage of the Great Return of our compatriots to their historic lands, their homelands, and their rebuilt homes, which were freed from the occupation, has begun. The construction boom in the Karabakh and Eastern Zangezur economic regions of Azerbaijan suggests that we will soon be talking about thousands of schools and hundreds of thousands of schoolchildren in the towns and villages being rebuilt in these areas.

As it is known, the number of schools built in our country under the Heydar Aliyev Foundation alone has reached 500. This is a great achievement, a manifestation of the care given to the education of the young generation in our country!

The current Knowledge Day is not only the beginning of the new academic year, but also the Day of Revival of our Karabakh, our history, and our pride.

May this year bring new opportunities, knowledge, and hope to all of us, the citizens of Azerbaijan. Let every child and every grandchild who goes to school know that he is stepping towards his future, and we adults will be proud of them.

Happy holiday, dear compatriots!

Azer Askerov

September is a special month of the year. With its arrival, we leave the summer, when we “get away” from hard work, get away from everyday worries, in short, we just relax.

With the arrival of the first month of autumn, the holiday season comes to an end, work in all sectors of the economy revives and we return to normal labor activity. This means that we are again connected to the business life of the country, we are taking necessary measures to achieve new goals in business, to fulfill our plans, and to restore our work schedule. Together with our team, we discuss new ideas and conduct active and productive work for the development of business cooperation.

It should be noted that in September of the current year, the pulse of business activity increased significantly, which is connected with the revival of business life: business events, conferences, exhibitions, and meetings are heating up again.

Our generation is a witness of very important historical processes – the restoration of our territories freed from occupation after a long conflict and a great Victory. As an Azerbaijani and a patriot of my country, I am very pleased with the extensive construction works in the liberated territories of the Karabakh region, especially in Zangezur. These constructions are a manifestation of hope for the future, the return to our historical lands, and the return of thousands of Azerbaijanis to their homeland.

Infrastructure projects, new residential complexes, and social facilities serve the development of the region and the improvement of the population’s livelihood. The number of former internally displaced families returning to newly built houses in Zangilan, Lachin, and Fuzuli is increasing every week. Very soon, our compatriots will settle in newly built houses in Agdam, Jabrayil, Shusha, Kalbajar… The speed of the construction works in the region indicates the confident activity of our state in the lands freed from occupation and gives rise to a great sense of pride.

All of the above indicates the efforts of the leadership of Azerbaijan and the people of Azerbaijan as a whole to build a better future and create quality living conditions for our citizens returning to their native land. Recovery, development, and hope form the core of all the projects implemented in Karabakh and Eastern Zangezur economic regions.

Regarding our topic, I would like to mention the famous saying of Aristotle: “We work to live a decent life, but we fight to live in peace.”

Get to work, friends!

Azer Asgarov

I heartily congratulate all media members and journalists of Azerbaijan on July 22 – National Press and Journalism Day!

You play an important role in our lives by covering the events happening in the country and the world, informing us. You stand guard over the right, the truth, and freedom of speech, and you try to perform your work properly, which requires a lot of effort, perseverance, and professionalism.

Honest, honest, objective journalism has a strong influence on the formation of healthy opinions in society and the adoption of correct decisions by providing us with various opinions and views.
I would like to emphasize two aspects of the modern Azerbaijani media that arouse great sympathy in me.

Firstly, wide coverage of sports events, competitions and achievements of our athletes is highly commendable, it gives us a good impression, joy, and pride, and helps to popularize sports among our children and youth.

Secondly, I consider it important to mention the effective and selfless activity of our journalists during the Patriotic War, which resulted in the liberation of our lands from Armenian occupation. We watched with excitement and pride the reports about our Great Victory, our heroic soldiers, their bravery, and our liberated villages and cities. Today, our media provides us with detailed information about the further strengthening of our glorious army.

Information technologies are developing rapidly and journalists face new challenges and opportunities. Masir Azerbaijan media also adapts to changes and uses new tools and platforms to provide information to our society.

There are many journalists whose professional activities and human qualities I highly appreciate and whose friendship I am proud of. I wish them and everyone celebrating this day good health, perseverance in their professional activities, creative inspiration, and success.

Azer Askerov

We were very pleased that our junior judokas achieved high results in individual and team competitions at the European Championships held in Odivelas, Portugal. Our athletes, who won 6 gold and 3 bronze medals in individual competitions, took first place among boys and 4th place among girls.

This is the best result achieved by the Azerbaijani national team in all the European championships in which it has participated so far, both in terms of the number and quality of medals. Our team beat the European giants in the competition in which 40 countries participated and finished the continental championship at the top.

Mehdi Jafarov (66 kg), a student of “Judo Club 2012”, is among the medalists, and we are especially pleased. He contributed to the success of our team by winning a bronze medal.

It is also a historical achievement that our national team won the gold medal in the mixed team competitions, winning against the teams of countries rich in judo traditions. Having eliminated such strong teams as the Netherlands, Germany, and Italy, our team defeated the French national team in the decisive match and won the gold medals and the cup of the competition.

Achieving such an achievement in the team competition, where the strongest athletes of 16 countries are represented, is a clear indicator of the successful development of Azerbaijani judo. This victory is also a real and visible embodiment of the special attention and care of the Honorable Mr. President Ilham Aliyev, the leadership of the Azerbaijan Judo Federation to the development of the sport and to the growing generation of young judokas.

I congratulate the entire judo family, our team, and dedicated judokas on the occasion of historic victories, and wish them success in future competitions!

Azer Askerov

President of the Association of Azerbaijan Judo Veterans, member of the Executive Committee of the Azerbaijan Judo Federation, and multiple winners and awardees of the world and European championships among veteran masters.