IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC: ABOUT US

The word "diplomat" is of French origin - as you might expect. What other European nation is so proficient in intellectual games? Who could charm, quietly persuade, beguile and achieve their goals with such refined manners and florid speech? At any level! Including state level! Whatever has happened to the meaning of this word over the centuries, it contains an idea today well-established among etymologists. A diplomat is a person authorized by the government of a state to be in permanent contact with other states. We are so used to this word and its use in our everyday life that we rarely think about the man, and his personality, behind the high function of a diplomat.

Our ambassador

Tahir Tagizada is Azerbaijan's first ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Czech Republic. The diplomat has been engaged in developing relations between the two countries for more than 18 months. His work includes special attention to the popularization of the cultural heritage and modern arts of Azerbaijan. This is not the most fundamental part of a diplomat's function, but it is perhaps the most effective and the most necessary and accessible in the modern world: music, literature, cinema and painting. The arts are presented in meetings, conversations, creative forums and so on. We should add that a diplomat does not have to do all this. His work encompasses political-economic relations. However, at his meeting with the ambassador before his appointment, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev approved his intention to build political relations between our countries through economic and cultural relations.

According to Tahir Tagizada himself, everything is in place to develop cultural-economic cooperation between the Czech Republic and Azerbaijan. First of all, there is the historical-geographical factor. The Czech Republic and Azerbaijan are geographic links between the East and the West. While Czechoslovakia was a kind of bridge between the East and the West in the 1920s and 1930s, Azerbaijan has fulfilled this function since the emergence of the Silk Road. And now Azerbaijan, which has become part of Europe (seen not only from the external adoption of lifestyle), is the same kind of bridge. Secondly, no matter how paradoxical this is, from the moment Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the moment Azerbaijan opened its embassy in Prague in August 2007, our countries made only one official visit each. Cultural relations, therefore, need to be supported by both sides.

A lot has been done

Nineteen months is not long in the life of an embassy. However, during this period a lot of work has been done in the Czech Republic to promote Azerbaijan as a nation with a high level of culture and as a nation of peace. Thanks to the efforts of film director Rustam Ibrahimbayov, the Czechs know Azerbaijani cinema, but the situation with regard to the other arts is somewhat different. Thus, the Czechs first encounter with the music and cultural traditions of our country began with a jazz mugham evening in Prague. Throughout the evening, the virtuoso performance of Sahin Novrasli (an award winner at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland in 2007) revealed the staggering depths of our national jazz to the Czech audience. The Prague auditorium was extremely interested in the showing of documentaries covering in detail the ethnic-cultural life of multinational Baku, the Jewish community in Quba and the German community in Xanlar. The main theme was the tolerant attitude of the Azerbaijani people to other faiths and cultures and, as a consequence, the possibility of maintaining multinational traditions and rites. This cultural initiative was stunningly successful, as was a solo performance by Tunzala, who was happy to take part in the Prague event following her visit to Usti nad Labem.  For the singer, it was her second time there. She had visited in 2006, but that had been more private than official. In 2007, the singer was invited on the initiative of the ambassador. Mr Tagizada thinks that his most productive work in this sphere was the signing of a memorandum with Masaryk University (Brno) on the establishment of a centre for Azerbaijani and Caspian research, which will be engaged in deep research into the genesis of Azerbaijani culture. His plan is for the centre to open officially in September, with the first event being held in November.

The centre will work in two directions: in education and in research work by students who will present essays on the results of their work for a competition. The winners are offered the first prize of a trip to Azerbaijan, while the second and third prizes are books. It is not clear yet which books they will be awarded. Incidentally, literature, essentially classic literature, is another aspect of this popularization initiative. One reason for us to be (justifiably) proud is the department of Azerbaijani literature in the Brno library. The embassy has a contract with the well-known Czech publishing house Mezera for the publication of books by our classical writers in the Czech language. The first one has already been published - "The History of the Village of Danabas" by Calil Mammadquluzada, translated by the former Czech ambassador to Turkey, Tomas Lane. The book is currently being distributed and the first part of the print run has been handed over to the Azerbaijani diaspora, Azericzech, which did much to popularize our culture even before our embassy was opened in the Czech Republic. The books have also been given to the organization of Azerbaijani students in the Czech Republic. It is planned to establish cultural and professional links between Masaryk University and the Baku Slavic University. Professional experience may be quite useful, specifically in the sphere of exchanging teachers. Although it is paradoxical, it is a fact: many teachers who teach the Czech language in our university have never been to the Czech Republic. In any case, there are a great many things to discuss and do something about. According to Tahir Tagizada, dialogue is needed first of all between the rectors of the two universities. Petr Fiala, the rector of Masaryk University, and Kamal Abdulla, the rector of Baku Slavic University, will definitely speak the same language - the language of education and humanism.

For the prestige of the country

He has another idea: to publish, in the Czech language, the political satire of Mircalal Pasayev, whose work and talent are quite similar to those of the Czech genius Karel Capek, although very few people in the world are aware of this. "It would be good to translate Capek into Azerbaijani as well," the diplomat said, inspired by his dreams. "Few people remember now that the word 'robot' was brought into circulation by the Czech classical writer." Here his smile disappeared and he added that these are only projects. He has quite a few projects. We would like to raise the country's prestige to such a level that every Azerbaijani would be a welcome visitor on Czech soil and every Czech on Azerbaijani soil. This is why direct contacts in the sphere of education, literature and the arts are so important. We have already reached an agreement with the Czech president to hold a concert by Sahin Novrasli as part of a series of jazz music evenings, in the Prague Grad (the presidential residency). There are also plans to continue cooperation with the Liditz Museum, in which we have already held an event called "Light for Xocali", with lectures on the history of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, a film showing about Xocali and an exhibition of young painters from Azerbaijan. Continuing this initiative, Azericzech and the organization of Azerbaijani students in the Czech Republic held a march in connection with the tragic events in Xocali, which was to demonstrate not just the civil, but also the patriotic position of those who live outside their homeland.

While on the subject of patriotism, we should not ignore something so important for the prestige of our country at the international level. This is sport. The ambassador and many Azerbaijanis living the Czech Republic were probably brimming with pride for their country when, after the World Cup mini-football qualifier, the papers carried screaming headlines: "A big Azerbaijani surprise". Teams from the Czech Republic, Azerbaijan, Finland and Armenia were vying for a place in the championship. The Czech team is one of the six best in the world. This fact is quite important. Naturally, according to all assumptions and predictions, they were the favourites. But there remained the three other teams. Which of them would come first? Realizing that this match was extremely important to the country's prestige, the embassy made great efforts to bring supporters to the match. The situation was not easy. And if we take into account the fact that the match itself was held in the small town of Chrudim, to which fans from different countries had come and where no-one was insured against the most unpredictable situations, the diplomat had to produce miracles of invention to avoid any incidents. "You cannot imagine the feeling of elation we all had when our team beat Finland and was leading in the match with the Czech Republic until five minutes from the end of the game," he said, as thrilled as any true fan. "Second place! The Czech team was very strong opposition for us! But I felt really proud of my country when I saw the headlines the next morning."

He continued talking and I thought then that this is what a real diplomat should probably be like. Having forgotten about diplomacy, I asked him whether he would like to stay in the Czech Republic, as he is doing so well there. He smoked. He nearly choked on the cigarette smoke - I had not seen such sincere amazement on anyone's face for a long time, especially on the face of a diplomat. "Why?" I mumbled something in reply, saying that I knew one chap who was a good translator, he retired and remained in Paris… He listened carefully. Then he said that in his opinion, a diplomat who works in the same country for too long loses his sense of reality and can hardly give an impartial assessment of the essence of what is going on in the country he represents. He added that he prefers returning home. Always. And what he is doing is his job. It is also the state of his soul, I thought to myself.