Qadinlar indd

170
www.aliyevheritage.org
Rocks. There is a photo of our delegation when your received us. This picture was 
taken when we were awarded in the Supreme Soviet for the successful organization 
of the days of literature (Maria Orlik presents President Heydar Aliyev the archive 
materials and photos). Let them remind you those times. 
Heydar Aliyev: Thank you.
Maria Orlik: I present you two books – «Masterpiece of the Ukrainian culture» 
and The Women of Ukraine – published by the Women`s Union of Ukraine. I want 
them to remind you our friendship.
Heydar Aliyev: Maria Andreevna, thank you. Do you have copies of these 
photos?
Maria Orlik: I present them to you. 
Heydar Aliyev: And do you have a copy of this newspaper? I don’t want you to 
lose it. 
Maria Orlik: They are for you. I want to present them to you. I was given all 
the materials as the head of the delegation. I would like them to remind you our 
meetings, more important, the friendship between our nations. 
We were welcomed here very well. We feel at home. We have carried out our 
tasks. Now we can report our president about the job done. I hope that our presidents 
will implement all what they have planned. We support you. 
Heydar Aliyev: Maria Andreevna, thank you. These photos remind me the 
old days. I remember that the days of Ukraine took place in Azerbaijan in 1979 
successfully. The organization of such measures was a tradition. Later the days of 
Azerbaijan were held in Ukraine. Then the Azerbaijani delegation was headed by 
Bagirov, Secretary of the Central Committee on ideology. The Soviet republics had 
such exchange measures held in high level. A lot of prominent men of-art came 
from Ukraine to Azerbaijan then. 
Maria Orlik: 400 people came here by 2 special planes. 
Heydar Aliyev: For example, I remember the famous singer Solovyanenko. 
Maria Orlik: Sofi a Rotaru was present, too. 
Heydar Aliyev: By the way, I met Sofi a Rotaru recently. When I worked in 
Moscow, she visited my family, met my wife and my daughter. I told her that I feel 
like she is my daughter. Then she was on a visit in Moscow. My wife invited her 
to our dacha. My daughter is interested in music, as well. Since then I had not seen 
In the Name of the Azerba  ani Woman

---

171
www.aliyevheritage.org
her. She was invited to the informal meeting of the heads of CIS countries in Sochi 
in August, where she performed well. 
Later I approached her. She said to me that she always remembers me. She is a 
good person and singer. By the way, Soloyanenko also visited Azerbaijan after I 
became President. He is a good friend of our Muslim Magomayev. I was very sad 
when I learned about his death. I sent Leonid Kuchma a telegram. Solovyanenko 
always made a good impression on me. I remember all these meetings. Thank you 
for the photos. I don’t know if I have these photos in my own archive. 
Maria Orlik: I have found them in my archive. You may search in yours, too. 
Heydar Aliyev: Thank you. 
Maria Orlik: By the way, Ukraine always remembers your help and care for our 
problems when you were the fi rst deputy prime minister of the Soviet Union. Then 
we dreamed about independence, later we achieved it. I have been in your cabinet a 
few times where you solved our problems. I thank you for this very much. 
Heydar Aliyev: Thank you for not forgetting. As I had been the leader of a 
country for many years, I knew the problems of the countries unlike my colleagues 
in the Political Bureau. Because most of them worked in Russia, not in other Soviet 
countries. But in order to understand the problems of other constituent countries, 
one should have worked there. 
As I presided over the republic for a long time, I witnessed the indifference of 
some offi cials in Moscow to the problems of the constituent republics. Our country, 
the Soviet Union was established in 1922 as a voluntary union.
Maria Orlik: We know what the voluntary union was. 
Heydar Aliyev: Unfortunately, some of my colleagues in the Political Bureau 
did not understand the problems. But I did. I also solved some problems related 
to Ukraine. A big country, Ukraine had many unsolved problems. You worked in 
humanitarian fi eld. So did I. I controlled many fi elds, including social and cultural 
fi elds.  Many  fi rst secretaries of different regions addressed me because of the 
problems. I always tried to solve them. 
Maria Orlik: You were a motivating force there. That’s why we appealed you. 
Thank you once more. 
Heydar Aliyev: Thank you for not forgetting. Does the Georgian delegation want 
to say anything? 
In the Name of the Azerba  ani Woman

---

172
www.aliyevheritage.org
Irina Evania (expert of the Georgian government commission on improvement of 
the conditions of women, expert on confl icts): Distinguished Heydar Aliyevich, I am 
a bit nervous. Let me thank you on behalf of the Georgian delegation for receiving us, 
the participants of the fi rst cooperation forum of the women of GUUAM countries. 
You have always spoken about the possible contributions of the women to the 
implementation of the aims and tasks declared by you, the leaders of the countries, 
who established GUUAM. We have serious plans. We have worked effectively and 
decided that we shall work further. Distinguished Heydar Aliyevich, we attach great 
importance to the expansion of relations with our friends from Azerbaijan. I am sure 
that my colleagues have something to say. Thank you. 
Tamara Abashidze (senior referent of the Georgian government commission on 
improvement of the conditions of women, expert on confl icts): Mr. President, I am 
also nervous. I also thank you for your attention to us, the participants of the forum. 
We always rely on your support. We shall always remember that as a real leader and 
prominent politician you chose friendship with our country. We highly appreciate it. 
We are sure that the relations between the women of Azerbaijan and Georgia will be 
an example for the women of other countries of GUUAM. Thank you very much. 
We are leaving Baku with the best feelings and sure that we shall meet in Tbilisi, 
Chishinau, Kiev, Tashkent again. Our meeting with you is important for our further 
cooperation. Mr. President, thank you. 
Heydar Aliyev: Georgia is our neighbor and friend. Our friendship has a long 
history. We have been co-existing for centuries. The situation in the Caucasus is not 
normal. There is a confl ict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Georgia has problems 
in Abkhazia and Southern Ossetia. There are also problems in the south of Russia, 
the Northern Caucasus, Chechnya. Unfortunately, our region is a confl ict  zone. 
These confl icts affect every country in the region. I think that we shall solve them. 
We are not guilty in the outbreak of the Armenian-Azerbaijani confl ict, neither in the 
Georgian-Abkhazian confl ict. Armenia tried to occupy the Azerbaijani territories and 
started an aggression against Azerbaijan in 1988. The Azerbaijanis and Armenians 
co-existed there. 
Georgia has a rich history. Abkhazia is a part of Georgia. Before it was too hard 
for us to distinguish the Georgians and the Abkhazians. But now the Abkhazians 
have a separatist position. But what have they gained? What has Armenia has 
In the Name of the Azerba  ani Woman

---