Baku, April 13 (AZERTAC). Azerbaijan State Telegraph Agency (AZERTAC) with the support of the Russian National Agency ITAR-TASS co-organized a photo exhibition dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the national leader of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev.

The opening ceremony was attended by Director General of ITAR-TASS Sergey Mikhailov, first deputy general director Mikhail Gusman, the director general of AZERTAC Aslan Aslanov, and Russian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Vladimir Dorokhin.

Opening the event, director general of AZERTAC Aslan Aslanov noted that the national leader Heydar Aliyev, his titanic work has made an invaluable contribution to the development of both Azerbaijan and Russia, and in the years of independence - to the strengthening of relations between the two countries and peoples. He said that Heydar Aliyev made an exceptional contribution to the historical destiny of Azerbaijan.

Aslanov stated that these valuable pictures taken from the photo archives of AZERTAC and ITAR-TASS reflect only a small part of the glorious annals of bright way of the life of Heydar Aliyev. Aslanov said that the great leader Heydar Aliyev was famous among the world political leaders. “This talent is perfectly manifested itself in a clear vision for the development of the state, the country and people, consistently achieving their goals,” he underlined.

Aslanov said that in the history of Azerbaijan and in the memory of the nation Heydar Aliyev has been and will remain a symbol of a sovereign and independent state, the charismatic genius of politics, a courageous man, and a great citizen.

Director General AZERTAC noted that the greatest creation of the national leader Heydar Aliyev - the modern independent Azerbaijan is experiencing a new phase of its development. “Azerbaijan is the undisputed leading country in the region. Today, all over the world are interested in Azerbaijan mainly because this country most actively applies political and economic innovations. All this is the fruit of immense merit of Heydar Aliyev - a man of genius, who represented himself in the Eastern wisdom and Western dynamism, glorified Azerbaijan for the whole world”, Aslanov emphasized.

Addressing the opening ceremony, Director General of ITAR-TASS Sergey Mikhailov said: “Great people leave great footprints in the history”. He noted that the current Azerbaijan demonstrates how skillfully are being implemented by President Ilham Aliyev the ideas and foundations that laid Heydar Aliyev. “The Republic is growing before our eyes, prettier. Azerbaijan is a wonderful country with wonderful warmth. I am very pleased that we were able to organize this exhibition of photographs from achieves of AZERTAC and ITAR-TASS News Agency, dedicated to the 90th anniversary of Heydar Aliyev”, he said.

First Deputy Director General of ITAR-TASS Mikhail Gusman said that Heydar Aliyev was a man of great scale, citizen, a true patriot of his country, the man who laid the foundations of today's Azerbaijan”.

The guests got acquainted with a few photos, which again reminded of the most interesting moments of the life of the great leader Heydar Aliyev. The exhibition demonstrated more than 70 photographs, taken from the archives of AZERTAC and ITAR-TASS. The photos highlight a whole 35-year period, biographies of great leader Heydar Aliyev - his activities as head of Azerbaijan since the late 1960s of the last century, and then as one of the leaders of the Soviet Union, and from 1993 to 2003 as the President of independent Azerbaijan.

After getting acquainted with the exhibition, the heads of both Agencies discussed the issues of bilateral cooperation. Director General of AZERTAC Aslan Aslanov at the meeting pointed out that the cooperation between the two agencies covers all areas of information activities organized by their joint activities. “Evidence to this is the high level of this photo exhibition dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the national leader Heydar Aliyev”, he said. Aslanov expressed confidence that this cooperation will continue to develop.

Director General of ITAR-TASS Sergey Mikhailov, praised the organization of the photo exhibition, said that such joint activities demonstrate the success of the cooperation between the two national agencies.

First Deputy General Director of ITAR-TASS Mikhail Gusman said that this exhibition is of great importance.

Russian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Vladimir Dorokhin noted that such events will certainly make a great contribution to the development of relations between Azerbaijan and Russia. The diplomat noted that Heydar Aliyev played a major role in establishing close friendship and good-neighborly relations between the two countries.

The parties also discussed issues related to the General Assembly of the Association of National News Agencies of the Black Sea region (BSANNA) to be held on 18-20 April 2013 in Sochi. During the event, presidency of BSANNA will pass from AZERTAC to ITAR-TASS.