Baku, July 12, AZERTAC

The International Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation has hosted presentation of the book "44 Days of the Patriotic War, Hulusi Kilic on the Information front" by the famous diplomat, former Ambassador of Turkey to Azerbaijan Hulusi Kilic.

The book reflects the professional activities of Hulusi Kilic, including interviews and speeches by the author during the 44-day Patriotic War.

In her opening remarks, president of the International Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation Gunay Afandiyeva highlighted the activities of the organization that she heads. Gunay Afandiyeva noted that the Foundation implements various projects to study, protect and popularize the material and cultural heritage of the Turkic world, including events, one of which is the presentation of the book by Hulusi Kilic "44 days of the Patriotic War, Hulusi Kilic on the information front".

Stressing that Azerbaijan has experienced the historic days of restoring its territorial integrity, Gunay Afandiyeva noted that this glorious victory was achieved thanks to the wise and far-sighted policy of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, the inexhaustible strength of the Azerbaijani Army and the unbreakable unity of the Azerbaijani people. Emphasizing that this glorious victory is the victory of the entire Turkic world, the president of the Foundation highlighted that during that difficult period, fraternal Turkey was next to Azerbaijan. Stressing the support of the President of the Republic of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defense of Turkey during the Patriotic War, she noted that the expression of national leader Heydar Aliyev "One nation, two states" proved its worth to the whole world, not only in words, but also in deeds. The President of the Foundation said that during the 44 days of struggle on the information front, the country was supported by people who love Azerbaijan and stressed the special importance of the statements and interviews of Hulusi Kilic about the events that took place during these difficult days. Then she brought to the attention of the event participants that the interviews and speeches were collected and published in the form of a book by a talented journalist Gunel Yaz.

Noting that Hulusi Kilich worked as the Turkish ambassador during the most difficult and vulnerable time for Azerbaijan, Gunay Afandiyeva said that as an ambassador to Azerbaijan, as well as to Moldova, he made a special contribution to the rapprochement of the Turkic-speaking peoples.

Stressing the importance of the event, Deputy Prime Minister of Azerbaijan, Deputy Chairman of the Yeni Azerbaijan Party Ali Ahmadov expressed particular satisfaction with the held presentation in the Turkic space - at the International Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation. Ali Ahmadov said: “When I saw this book, I witnessed the friendly position of Hulusi Kilic towards Azerbaijan, heard his voice. I saw these materials from periodicals, they were familiar to me and I knew that Hulusi Kilic was fighting at the front like a Turk. Activities on the information front are no less important than the struggle of our heroes and brave men. One could not expect another position from Hulusi Kilic. During his work in Azerbaijan, I have repeatedly witnessed that Hulusi Kilic was the messenger of Azerbaijani-Turkish friendship and expressed this through his actions. The essence of Hulusi Kilic as a diplomat is to promote, expand and protect Turkism. I think this is not accidental, because a person who is a Turk, definitely has such emotions," he said.

"The Patriotic War is one of the most glorious moments in the history of Azerbaijan. The value of this war, which coincided with our time, is that Azerbaijan and Turkey demonstrated friendship and courage. There are quite a lot of examples in our history, but this time we saw with our own eyes how our soldiers, heroes revived the strength of Azerbaijan and showed the bravery of the Turkic spirit. The main idea and thought that Hulusi Kilic wants to interpret in this book is that friendship and brotherhood come from blood, and this should be manifested not in words, but in deeds,” Ali Akhmedov added.

The chairman of Azerbaijan Writers Union, People's Writer Anar said that Hulusi Kilic is an ambassador, beloved by the Azerbaijani people and loving Azerbaijan. Anar noted that he has always been a diplomat defending the interests of Azerbaijan. People's Writer spoke about the recently published book "The Karabakh epic, longing for thirty years - victory of 44 days." He noted that the book includes articles by famous writers and cultural figures about Karabakh. Then he presented the book to Hulusi Kilic and thanked Turkey for supporting Azerbaijan in the Patriotic War.

People's Writer Elchin recalled the closed borders between Turkey and Azerbaijan in the Soviet era and the separation between the peoples. He said: "At that time, our intelligentsia wanted to visit Turkey, and Turkish citizens, in turn, wanted to come to Azerbaijan, but it was impossible. After the collapse of Soviet Empire, all the realities have changed, Azerbaijani-Turkish relations have entered a new and unbreakable stage. As a result of the love of the Azerbaijani people for Turkey, respect and reverence for Turkism, the Embassy of the Republic of Turkey has started functioning in Azerbaijan. Hulusi Kilic is also one of the ambassadors who won the love of the Azerbaijani people. Hulusi Kilic's love for Azerbaijan is love for the entire Turkic world, and this book was born thanks to this love."

In his speech, Elchin also suggested publishing a new book summarizing the work done by the former ambassador during his four years in Baku.

Speaking at the event members of the Milli Majlis: academician Nizami Jafarov, Jala Aliyeva, Hikmat Babaoghlu, Malahat Ibrahimgizi and others shared their views on the activities of Hulusi Kilic and noted that he is a selfless person in the Turkic world.

Former Turkish Ambassador to Azerbaijan, author of the book Hulusi Kilic, stressing that today he experienced a historic day, thanked president of the International Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation Gunay Afandiyeva for organizing and holding the event.

Hulusi Kilic said: "On the eve of the 44-day war, maybe my body was in Turkey, but my spirit and mind were on the front line. The information front is a diplomatic and political front. I have said this many times. I was ready to become a martyr for Karabakh. Our peoples did not know each other well. In fact, we have won the love and support of our peoples in this war. This is the biggest achievement for us. I tried to write something in this book every day. Speaking on television, I tried to inform the Turkish people. Finally, I decided to donate the proceeds from the book to the YASHAT Foundation," he said.

In conclusion, president of the International Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation Gunay Afandiyeva presented a commemorative plaque to the former Ambassador of Turkey to Azerbaijan, Hulusi Kilic, for his special contribution to strengthening friendly and fraternal relations between the Turkic peoples.

In the end, Azerbaijani and Turkish folk songs were performed by the Honored Artist of the Republic of Azerbaijan Rashad Ilyasov.