WE ARE 5 YEARS OLD!

The Region Plus analytical magazine, first published on 21 February 2006, has printed its 120th issue.  We commemorate our 5th anniversary without excessive pomp, but with pleasant feelings.  Those feelings are of satisfaction from work well done and years lived with purpose.  Our magazine began in the Year of Russia in Azerbaijan, with a visit by the then Russian President V. Putin to our country, talks on Armenian-Azerbaijani regulation in Rambouillet and a feature story about Baku by prominent Russian journalist Sergey Brilev.  Today, thumbing through the first issue of the magazine and taunting good-naturedly its not-too-prepossessing adolescence, flawed page layout and primitiveness, we ask ourselves:  are five years many or few?  Compared to what?  And what is the yardstick?  Many things have changed since then, but one thing remains the same:  the magazine has always been in demand by readers; Region Plus has found its niche and a stable readership.  Whatever there was in the past, we have achieved what we wanted.  The magazine has developed its character, its style.  We do not attract readers with provocative content or cheap sensationalism, we do not mimic the pseudo-patriots and we do not seek easy paths because, first and foremost, we strive to maintain an objective view of developments in Azerbaijan and the region.  And we seem to have lived up to our name, our purpose and our slogan:  "For the purity of information!"

The crux

What will Egypt be like after the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak?  What will be the result of Russian mediation in the regulation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict?  What will become of Turkey's attempted accession to the EU?  What will be the outcome of rising food prices in the international arena?  Around these issues revolve the daily routines of the staff and writers of the magazine.  We have to admit that the current issues of Region Plus are a far cry from the pilot issues of 2006 in every respect, be it design, subject matter, the breadth of coverage, originality of approach or consistency in grasping the gist.  Of course, it would not be modest of us to write that the Azerbaijani Government has, on more than one occasion, addressed social problems described by our writers.  But we do want to write about this because our contribution is there, too, in these decisions, however minuscule.  It has been noted several times that precisely after the publication by Region Plus of an article on a topic, the appropriate departments have taken urgent measures to tackle the problem.  Not to mention the fact that analytical forecasts by our writers on a range of international political events have more than once come true.  Still today we receive letters or phone calls from interested readers about material published by the magazine almost one year ago.  And this is telling...

We have questions and will continue to have them

We have grown up.  Local and foreign analysts, heads of states and governments, ministers and officials of different levels and positions, and prominent members of the international community willingly give us interviews.  Readers were probably as curious as we were to look into the secrets of the Islamic banking system as divulged by Islamic Development Bank President Ahmad Mohamed Ali himself, or to hear from former US Defense Secretary William James Perry that the United States could learn a thing or two from Azerbaijan.  That was an interesting statement, was it not?  But if this did not stir your interest, you can always skim the magazine, and even the most demanding reader will find much of interest to suit her taste.

We are what we write and publish.  This is our work and, judging by feedback, our readers approve.  And we are thankful to our readers for phoning us, not only to praise us, but also to point out our mistakes.  Yes, there are inaccuracies but, as the saying goes, only he who does nothing makes no mistakes.  This is what true feedback is supposed to be like.

Good friend

In five years of work, this is the first time we have written about ourselves - this is an anniversary, after all.  We discussed this issue with the magazine's director, Vafa xanim Axundova.  As always, she was supportive.  That is why we will begin the introduction to our staff with her.  Despite the sublime title of 'director', Vafa xanim is a good friend.  Working with her and being in her company is nice and interesting, and she treats the staff of her magazine as if they were her children - she praises them sometimes, and at other times she reproaches them.  She is not indifferent to the problems of the staff either:  she will always listen, help, support.  Vafa xanim is an aesthete.  She likes doing whatever she does with flavour and taste.  "What is New Year without a beautiful and impressive Christmas tree?  And what is working in an office without heating?" - she says.  Accordingly, the staff try not to let her down.

Special mood...

"Hello, aunt Valechka!"  The working day for most of us at Region Plus begins with these words.  By the time we arrive, there is already no trace of the business-like disorder we left behind yesterday:  aunt Valya is usually already in the kitchen, "guessing the crossword puzzles" and greeting us with her unusually kindly and warm smile and freshly brewed tea.  Aunt Valya always has a kind word, a sensible remark or advice for every one of us, especially when it comes to health.  We take her candies if we are out of money, and her bosom is ready for the tears of the female side of our office if someone is going through the usual family crisis or a major drama in their love-life.  Now, five years after the first issue of the Region Plus magazine, we realize that aunt Valya is something more than simply one of the staff.  With no exaggeration, Valentina is in charge of the office hearth and comfort.  If she leaves a little earlier than usual, we feel orphaned and void somehow, something like a child feels in the absence of the parents.  At these moments, the child begins to grow and mature.  We also mature and so it is time to get down to work.

"It is better not to anger him..."

16 December 2010.  The latest issue of the magazine hit the shelves yesterday.  So today we are planning the next issue.  Chief editor Namiq Mailov speaks softly and pleasantly, as always.  You listen to him and you agree with him because Mailov's remarks are always tactful and respectful.  He is always ready to listen to a sensible suggestion.  And this is not a figure of speech.  This time around, the chief editor tells section heads to be more proactive and work harder with the writers, to focus more on interesting interviews.  We are all in good spirits because New Year is near and the next issue will be the New Year issue.  The social sector is instructed not to burden readers with problems so much on New Year's Eve, to be inspired by the season's spirit and to adopt a more positive slant.

Mailov clearly likes the idea of a 'laid-back' issue.  He is almost always unruffled, and it seems that nothing can make him lose his temper.  Indeed, you have to try really hard to make Mailov lose composure.  But if that happens, he first takes agitated steps out to the balcony to relieve the tension with another cigarette and he prefers not to look at anyone as he goes, which means that his "displeasure has reached its height."  At times like this, we fall silent - everyone realizes the mistake he or she has made.  But this does not make it any easier.  There can be no doubt that anyone who has witnessed this situation has thought to himself:  "It is better not to anger him..."

About a muse, and more...

Our magazine's office has two wings, which we, the staff, call compartments.  True, one might say that the word creates, and justly so, associations with a submarine; in essence they are true.  Submariners cannot get out of their vessel for the simple reason that it is impossible.  We, however, although we could get out, will not do so voluntarily because the staff of our magazine are like a family, and the absence of a particular person is immediately noticeable.  Each compartment has its role:  the first includes the creative and technical sections of our office; the second is for the administration, headed by our director Vafa xanim Axundova, and Region Plus' web department, headed by a person of special interest, indispensable special correspondent of the Turkish mass media in Azerbaijan, Ramin Abdullayev.

There is a lot of Ramin.  Let us not have to repeat that there must be a lot of a good person, but this is a fact.  After all, Ramin's greatest weakness is buns, which have made him a friend of our literary editor Rauf Mammadov (for those in the know, uncle Rauf).  Ramin is very kind-hearted, he sings aloud songs about himself and he likes to rhyme.  He believes his male muse - uncle Rauf, who is also an admirer of buns - helps him create lines like "Ramin, Ramin, you are powerful, you drive the flocks of clouds!"  And if our literary editor buys two buns, for example, one of them will certainly make its way into Ramin's hands, although Ramin has already eaten four buns just before.  Uncle Rauf is often the main protagonist in Ramin's creative works, his songs and his compromising photographs on which our literary editor either works hard, or eats, or somehow manages to fall asleep while at his desk, or meditates the meaning of existence.  These two characters and true friends are often targets of our jokes, and we cannot imagine how bleak and joyless life at the office would seem to us had these two friends not been part of it.

A no less interesting member of our large family is the IT specialist, close friend of Rauf and Ramin, Ilgar -  philologist, musician, fan of movies from the 1960s and 1970s and last but not least important, a very courteous and interesting person.  In hardware and software alike, Ilgar prefers only cutting-edge products.  He installs the latest versions of computer programs, believing that as soon as a new version is available, the hard drives simply must be formatted for installation.  We, on the other hand, being inveterately conservative, resist all these innovations at all costs, arguing that everything new is actually the long-forgotten old.  That is why Ramin calls Ilgar 'Mr Format', which the latter does not seem to mind...  Although there are three of them, Ramin, uncle Rauf and Ilgar, they represent a single entity of sorts, in common interests, which is very much appreciated by the office staff.

We could write extensively about every one of our staff - and about our tradition of celebrating the birthdays of all in the editor's office.  Parties are noisy, funny, tasty, and flooded with endless streams of jokes.  At one of these gatherings, Rasmiya xanim Qambarova, deputy chief editor for advertising and a talented toastmaster in one, produced a nickname for every one of us, very accurately describing our prominent personality traits.  She called herself 'Miss Manat' - she is quite un-mercenary as a person, but as an advertising professional, she believes that there is no such thing as a free lunch.  The magazine's executive editor Emin Alakbarov, who loves spicy jokes, was dubbed 'Mr Jolly', head of the economics section Nurlana Quliyeva, a very wise and concise person, is 'Mrs Prudence', society section head Sabira Mustafayeva, who is on an eternal quest for problems and ways to tackle them is 'Mrs Justice', web site operator Naila, who is always trying to lose weight is 'Miss Diet', the three taciturn web site managers Ruslan, Sanan and Husayin are 'soldiers of the invisible front', the magazine's chief accountant, always absorbed in memories of the past, Nasim muallim, is 'Sir Nostalgia', booking clerk Seva with her contagious laugh is 'Mrs Smile', and we call our designer Kama 'Designer with a capital D'.

The youngest member of Region Plus is artist and designer Kubra Salamova.  We cherish and pamper Kubra, the little one of our family in both age and stature.

What is our magazine without our wonderful proofreaders Aybeniz xanim and Gulara Mammadova - Larochka?  Aybeniz xanim indulges us with cookies which she bakes herself on the days when she is on duty, and Larochka often treats us to biscuits, pastries, candies and other sweets.

And finally, you are now reading our magazine thanks to our distributors, who are managed by our deputy director Arzu Dasdamirov.  Together with his assistant Arif, they are an important section of our production pipeline.

We hope that as you are getting to the end of this article, you feel the human warmth that we invest in our magazine.  And we, too, feel warmth when we work on Region Plus magazine, in both direct and indirect senses, because we have you, our dear readers!