Final event within the frame of “Gabala - the cultural capital of CIS” was held in the region.

There was solemn closing ceremony of the final events held in association with the announcement of Gabala as the cultural capital of CIS in 2013. Cultural and art figures of the CIS countries, ambassadors of several counties to Azerbaijan, representatives of the region’s community and other authoritative guests took part in the event. Firstly, event attendees visited monument of great leader Heydar Aliyev in the center of Gabala and laid flowers in front of it. The Executive Power of Gabala region Mr. Sabuhi Abdullayev made speech at the official part of the event and noted that day was significant event in the history of the region. He highlighted that Gabala was given the title of “cultural capital of CIS” by the decision of humanitarian Cooperation Council of the member states of the Union and Interstate Fund for Humanitarian Cooperation of the member states of the organization in 2013. A number of international cultural events were held in Gabala during this period. The cultural events organized with the support of the Azerbaijani government and Heydar Aliyev Foundation make a great contribution not only to CIS, but also to the world cultural heritage. Afterwards, Mr. Sabuhi Abdullayev stated that relay race of “Cultural Capital of CIS” was held in Almaty, Kazakhstan and Osh, Kyrgyzstan in 2014. Head of Region’s Executive Power brought to the attention of the participants that Gabala was announced as the “Capital of Legends of Azerbaijan” by the decision of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in 2014. Thereafter, Mr. Sabuhi Abdullayev presented diplomas to the ambassador of Azerbaijan to Russia, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of CIS Interstate Fund for Humanitarian Cooperation Polad Bulbuloglu, Executive Director of Fund Anatoly Iksanov, Deputy Head of the Department of Culture of Almaty, Kazakhstan Juldız Omarbayov, and Culture, Information and Tourism Minister of Kyrgyzstan Sultan Rayev.Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Russia Polad Bulbuloglu delivered speech in the event and stated that he was proud of Gabala’s successful implementation of the mission as the cultural capital of CIS. He mentioned that modern infrastructure established in Gabala region enables internationally important cultural events to be held at the highest level. The Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism Sevda Mammadaliyeva expressed that Gabala with its ancient history and beautiful nature has made significant progress as the cultural capital of CIS. She underlined that projects of this type expand cultural relations between countries and nations in the cultural field. Following the official part of the event, interesting concert program was held. Members of “Tenors of the XXI century” art project Alexander Zakharov, Maxim Paster, Sergey Pisarev and Dmitri Sibirtsev further enhanced the mood of the participants of the event with their interesting performances at the concert.  In the end, “Do not be afraid, I am with you! 1919” feature film was demonstrated. Film which is joint production of “Azerbaijanfilm” Film Studio named after J.Jabbarly and Russian “White Media” company was shot in 6 regions of our country. Well-known Azerbaijani and Russian actors appeared in the new film which was screened as a continuation of “Do not be afraid, I am with you” feature film that was shot in the 80s of the last century.  The film writer and director of the film, People’s Artist of Russia Yuli Gusman and one of the performers of the primary roles Polad Bulbuloglu spoke about the history of the film. They stressed the great support of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and President of Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mehriban Aliyeva in shooting of the film. A number of songs sung by Polad Bulbuloglu further enhanced the festive mood of the event participants. Consequently, final events held in the region in association the announcement of Gabala as the cultural capital of CIS last year once again proved that Gabala, one of the picturesque corners of Azerbaijan, meritoriously born the title of “cultural capital of CIS”.