NOT IN WORDS…

The visits by Azerbaijan's First Lady, President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, Mehriban Aliyeva, to the Vatican and Italy may rightly be regarded as historic. They were the first evidence of recognition of our country's important contribution to a dialogue between civilizations.

During her visit to the Vatican Mehriban Aliyeva met with Pope Francis. Noting with satisfaction that bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and the Vatican are increasingly developing, Mehriban Aliyeva stressed the broadening of this cooperation in the field of protecting cultural heritage. Azerbaijan's First Lady also spoke about the Heydar Aliyev Foundation's work in improving the social situation of its fellow-countrymen who have become refugees and forced migrants as a result of Armenia's military aggression against our country.

Pope Francis, for his part, expressed the Vatican's vested interest in the development of bilateral ties with Azerbaijan. He highly praised the role of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation in the restoration of Rome's sacred catacombs.

It was the visit to the sacred catacombs that was one of the most significant moments of Mehriban Aliyeva's visit to the Vatican. The restoration of the catacombs of Santi Marcellino and Pietro, as well as the Mausoleum of Saint Helena, are being carried out in line with a bilateral agreement signed between the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the Holy See in June 2012. The mausoleum was built in honour of the mother of Emperor Constantine of Rome, Empress Helena. During excavations in the catacombs of the mausoleum ancient artefacts were discovered which are of great significance from an historical point of view. Among the works restored with the support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation was a fresco with an image of the legendary Orpheus who used his wisdom to cure even animals. Orpheus became a symbol of the drive towards harmonious relations between people. His melodious tunes invoke this.

The work of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation is also noted for its drive towards developing a broader and more comprehensive dialogue between peoples and cultures. Two years ago, at the time of the signing of the agreement between the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the Holy See, Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, Chairman of the Pontifical Council for Culture, described the event which will take place thanks to Azerbaijan's support as the Muslim world's gift to Christianity.

Indeed, this is the first event in the history of the Vatican and the Catholic Church when a charity foundation in a Muslim country has assisted in the spiritual and material heritage of Christianity. The measures undertaken by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation in the Vatican are not confined to restoration of the catacombs. The foundation is also contributing to the restoration of manuscripts stored in the Vatican Apostolic Library, which was founded back in 1475.

Over a million books relating to various historical periods are kept in the Vatican Apostolic Library. Many of the manuscripts stored here relate to Azerbaijan and the Caucasus region. In 2011 an agreement was signed between Azerbaijan and the Vatican which opened up access for our researchers to the archives of the Apostolic Library. This was the start of the restoration by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation of about 40 manuscripts on the history of Azerbaijan. An ancient Koran was among the restored manuscripts.

The process of the digitizing of over 3,000 books began in the Vatican Apostolic Library in March this year. Mehriban Aliyeva, President of the Heydar Aliyeva Foundation, and Jean-Louis Brugues, Director of the Vatican Apostolic Library, signed a contract on the restoration and digitizing of new manuscripts in 2015-2016.

The Vatican's Secret Archives are an integral part of the Apostolic Library. Back in the 17th century the archives were separated from the library and began operating as an independent structure. The Secret Archives house 150,000 copies of documents. In 2012 60 copies of manuscripts and over 100 documents stored in the Vatican's Secret Archives and relating to the history of Azerbaijan were handed over to our country. They were, for the most part, letters sent by rulers of the Azerbaijani states of Atabaylar [Eldanizlar], Ag Qoyunlu, Qara Qoyunlu, Safavids and Qacars [Kajars] to the Popes of Rome and their replies. The secret accounts of missionaries in connection with the political currents in Azerbaijan are also included here. Among the documents handed over to Azerbaijan were unique manuscripts covering the 9th to the 18th century. These include rare manuscripts by Nizami, Nasimi, Fizuli and other great Azerbaijani poets and thinkers, as well as valuable, but little known medieval works by our authors in various spheres of academic knowledge.

During her visit to the Vatican Mehriban Aliyeva signed two agreements with Bishop Fernando Vergez Alzaga, the Secretary General of the Governate of the city - on the restoration of the statue of Zeus and the Sistina Hall in the Museum of Pius Kliment. Valuable sculptures relating to periods of antiquity and the Renaissance are housed in this museum.

Azerbaijan's First Lady also visited the Italian capital, Rome. The Mayor of Rome, Ignazio Marino, thanked Mehriban Aliyeva for the repair work carried out with the support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation in one of the largest monuments of the Ancient City, the Capitoline Museums. The First Lady, for her part, thanked the mayor for erecting the monument to Nizami Gancavi in Rome. On behalf of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, Mehriban Aliyeva expressed her interest in the implementation of joint projects with Italy in the spheres of science and culture.

In such a way, the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and its president, Mehriban Aliyeva, underlined their contribution to the development of Azerbaijan's international ties. Undoubtedly, one of the basic aims of the foundation is the preservation of the cultural and spiritual values of the Azerbaijani people and their promotion worldwide. At the same time, the Heydar Aliyev Foundation is also making an inestimable contribution to the restoration of monuments of universal importance in different countries.

The foundation's role in promoting Azerbaijan as the image of a country of inter-religious and inter-ethnic harmony is also significant. The Heydar Aliyev Foundation is implementing the "Azerbaijan Home to Tolerance" project, as part of which Muslim mosques and a Christian church, as well as a Jewish school and culture centre are being restored. In addition, the foundation is playing an active part in the restoration of the architectural monuments of European countries, in particular the Palace of Versailles in France.

Such projects, like the restoration work undertaken by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation in the Vatican, contribute to the shaping in the world of an image of Azerbaijan as a unique secular country with a predominantly Muslim population which is taking part in the preservation of the world's cultural heritage i.e., works of culture that relate not just to Islam, but also to Christian and Jewish civilizations.  

Of significance in this sense is the Vatican's admission that, despite appeals to many Christian foundations and organizations to assist in the restoration of the sacred catacombs of Rome, the first to come to the aid of the Holy See was a foundation from a Muslim country, Azerbaijan. All this points to our country's historic role in developing an inter-religious and inter-cultural dialogue. Suffice to recall the summit of the world's religious leaders, the World Forum for an International Dialogue and international humanitarian forums held in Baku in recent years. In this way Azerbaijan is demonstrating the importance of a dialogue, tolerance and mutual respect in relations between peoples and states.

Mehriban Aliyeva's visit to the Vatican is also important in the context of inter-state cooperation between Azerbaijan and the Holy See. The history of these relations goes back to the times of the Azerbaijani Albanian state, which maintained relations with the Roman and Byzantine Empires. With the foundation of the Islamic religion in Azerbaijan relations between our people and the Christian world entered a new era. Azerbaijan has always occupied a special place in the politics of Europe, because it was through our territory that the Great Silk Road passed. The Papacy maintained fairly close political and economic relations, at times even allied relations, with a whole number of Azerbaijani states, specifically the states of Shirvanshahs [Sirvansah], Atabaylar, Elkhanates, Ag Qoyunlu and Safavids. At the courts of the Azerbaijani states, at Samaxi and Tabriz [Iran], were the embassies of the Roman Catholic Church. A propos of this, some documents recently passed on by the Vatican to Azerbaijan, reveal the activities of the ambassadors of the Azerbaijani state of Safavids in Rome. They show, among other things, the fate of Hasan-bay, Shah Ismail I's ambassador at the court of Pope Innocent VIII. 

In 1919 the Azerbaijani Democratic Republic (ADR) - the first republic in the Muslim East - established diplomatic relations with the Papal state. In the Vatican's archives is preserved correspondence between the ADR's ambassador to Istanbul, Yusif Vazir Camanzaminli, and the Pope and his cardinals. It is interesting that it was thanks to the dialogue between Azerbaijani and Papal diplomats that the Monument to Pope Benedict XV (1914-1922) was erected.

Relations between Azerbaijan and the Vatican were given a new boost after the restoration of Azerbaijan's state independence. But although diplomatic relations between the sides had been established in 1992, one could not claim that there was active cooperation in the first decade of independence. In 2002 Pope John Paul II visited Azerbaijan at the invitation of the country's then president, Heydar Aliyev. The Pontiff described Azerbaijan as a gateway between East and West and an example of tolerance. During Pope John Paul II's visit to our country a decision was taken on the construction of a Catholic church in Baku, which soon opened its doors to congregations.

The visits by the Secretary of State of the Holy See Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone in 2008 and the Chairman of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Culture Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi in 2013 were indications of the intensive nature of relations between the Vatican and Azerbaijan.

The opening of an exhibition "An historical look at Azerbaijan's rich pearls" in the Vatican in November 2012 to mark the 20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and the Vatican had wide repercussions.  The exhibition, which was organized with the support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, showed Azerbaijani cultural treasures from various epochs, depicting our country as the crossroads of culture and civilizations. But the important thing was that Azerbaijan had become the first Muslim country to organize such an exhibition in the Vatican. It is not surprising that in the same year former Pope Benedict XVI, in one of his speeches, described relations between the Vatican and Azerbaijan as a fine example to other countries.

Meanwhile, cooperation between Azerbaijan and the Vatican also has great significance for science. Thanks to this cooperation and the restoration work carried out with the support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, new opportunities are opening up for scientific circles (not just of Azerbaijan, of course, but other countries, too) to carry out research in the spiritual and material treasure-house of the Holy See. Besides this, following the completion of restoration work, the Vatican's monuments will once again be resplendent in the eyes of pilgrims and tourists. Is this not the clearest evidence of the need for and the success of a dialogue between Islam and Christianity and mutual contacts between people belonging to different cultures and faiths?