Ganja City Executive Power, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, the Embassy of Georgia in the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Consulate General of Georgia in Ganja, the Ganja Branch of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, the Shota Rustaveli Institute of Georgian Literature of Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, and the Nizami Ganjavi Institute of Literature of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences held the 1st Azerbaijan-Georgia International Conference on “Nizami Ganjavi and Shota Rustaveli - Crossroads of Cultures”.
This scientific forum, organized for the first time in the history of Ganja, was attended by scientists and researchers from two neighboring and friendly countries, the Chairman of the Ganja Branch of ANAS, Academician Fuad Aliyev, the Director of the Shota Rustaveli Institute of Georgian Literature of Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Professor Irma Ratiani, as well as Adil Taghiyev, Deputy Head of the Ganja City Executive Power, and Kakhaber Abdaladze, Consul General of Georgia in Ganja.
An exhibition dedicated to the works of Nizami Ganjavi and Shota Rustaveli, who have become symbols of the national values of our peoples, was displayed in the lobby of the conference hall of the Ganja Branch of ANAS.
The chief specialist of the Academy Museum of ANAS, Doctor of Philosophy in Art History, Aynura Hashimova, provided the guests with extensive information about the exhibits of the exhibition. Presenting examples of works by our classics at the exhibition, she emphasized that the leadership of ANAS has recently attached importance to fine arts as a direction of scientific thought and activity and supports artists and designers working in this field.
The international conference began with a minute of silence in memory of the National Leader Heydar Aliyev and our martyrs who gave their lives for the integrity of our homeland.
In his introductory speech, the Chairman of the Ganja Department of ANAS, Academician Fuad Aliyev, welcomed the guests to the ancient land of Ganja, the homeland of Nizami, and emphasized that the friendship and mutual trust of the peoples of the two neighboring countries have stood the test of centuries. He drew attention to the fact that in our modern era, the leaders of our countries have raised this friendship and solidarity to an even higher level and have constantly made significant contributions to international stability and development. Academician Fuad Aliyev added that scientists from Azerbaijan and Georgia are also making their contribution to common progress.
Academician Fuad Aliyev emphasized that the meeting of the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Georgia, Ilham Aliyev and Mikheil Kavelashvili, held in Baku in April 2025, also encourages scientists to more thoroughly study the roots of the national and spiritual values of the two peoples, and in this regard, the creativity of Nizami Ganjavi and Shota Rustaveli is an indicator that the two brotherly peoples have common culture, literature, and moral values.
He also noted that the President of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Academician Isa Habibbeyli, stated during his meeting with Professor Irma Ratiani, Director of the Shota Rustaveli Institute of Georgian Literature, that Azerbaijani-Georgian scientific relations have entered a new stage.
Adil Taghiyev, Deputy Head of the Ganja City Executive Power, noted that the prospects for cooperation between our country and neighboring and friendly Georgia, both in the economic and cultural-spiritual fields, based on solidarity, have reached a higher level, thanks to the opportunities created in recent times, especially after the determination of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Mr. Ilham Aliyev, the courage of our Army and the solidarity of the people, and the complete restoration of territorial integrity in the 44-day Patriotic War with the Great Victory, and today's prestigious scientific meeting also serves to expand such relations.
A. Taghiyev conveyed the greetings and wishes of success of the Head of the Ganja City Executive Power, Niyazi Bayramov, to the participants of the conference.
In his speech, the Consul General of Georgia in Ganja, Kakhaber Abdaladze, expressed his gratitude to the Ganja City Executive Power and its head Niyazi Bayramova, the Embassy of Georgia in the Republic of Azerbaijan, the President of ANAS, Academician Isa Habibbeyli, the Institute of Literature, the Head of the Ganja Department, Academician Fuad Aliyev, as well as relevant universities and research centers of his country for organizing this event, which is another example of the friendship, brotherhood and closeness of purpose between our peoples.
Scientific Secretary of the Nizami Ganjavi Institute of Literature of ANAS, Doctor of Philosophy in Philology, Associate Professor Aygun Bagirli, emphasized that the joint renaissance of our literatures and the parallels in the creative and philosophical worlds of Nizami Ganjavi and Shota Rustaveli, who are prominent figures of this renaissance, serve the advancement of science and the spiritual world of both peoples, as one of the manifestations of Georgian-Azerbaijani friendship and cooperation, and that the study of the creative and philosophical worlds of both peoples serves the development of science and the spiritual world, and in this regard, the importance of the project jointly implemented by scientists of the two countries, which is related to the intersection of our cultures through the example of both writers.
He also drew attention to the great need for the ideas and ideals of great and eternal personalities such as Nizami and Rustaveli for the victory of good over evil and the establishment of peace and tranquility in the complex and contradictory modern world we live in.
Professor Irma Ratiani, Director of the Shota Rustaveli Institute of Georgian Literature of Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, made a speech and noted that the rise of literature in the Caucasus is closely linked to the creativity of Nizami Ganjavi and Shota Rustaveli, and that the institutions and researchers implementing the project have worked very effectively as a single team to open the concept of "cultural intersections", which is included in the theme of this event.
Irma Ratiani also delivered a report on the topic "Shota Rustaveli and his "Knight in the Tiger's Skin". His anniversary celebrated in 1937", emphasizing that the spiritual power of Rustaveli's words and thoughts rendered a great service to humanity during the most severe known period of repressive oppression by the Soviet regime.
Senior Researcher of the Department of Nizami Studies of the Nizami Ganjavi Institute of Literature of ANAS, Doctor of Philosophy in Philology, Associate Professor Zahra Allahverdiyeva “Issues of the Influence of Nizami Ganjavi Traditions on Shota Rustaveli’s Creativity and the History of the Study of the Problem”, Miranda Kashalashvili, Scientific Secretary of the Shota Rustaveli Institute of Georgian Literature, “Nizami and Rustaveli: Intercultural Parallels of the Concept of Love”, Deputy Chairman for Scientific Affairs of the Ganja Department of ANAS, Doctor of Philosophy in Philology, Associate Professor Alimukhtar Mukhtarov “Sheikh Nizami and His Homeland Ganja”, Doctor of Philology Ivane Amirkhanashvili, Head of the Rustaveliology Center of the Shota Rustaveli Institute of Georgian Literature, “We Are Together Again”, Tarana Verdiyeva, Head of the Department of the Nizami Ganjavi Center of the Ganja Department, “Literary Relations of Azerbaijan and Georgia” and Simuzar Gafarli, Head of the International Relations Department of the Ganja Department, “Nizami and From Rustaveli's legacy to the independence of 1918: historical and literary bridges of Azerbaijan and Georgia”.
Also at the conference were Deputy Director for Scientific Affairs of the Institute of Architecture and Art of ANAS, Doctor of Philosophy in Art History Khazar Zeynalov and Research Fellow of the Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, Leading Artist-Designer Minaya Dayanat-Feyzullayeva, who expressed their views on issues of literature and art.
Discussions were held around the speeches, as well as an exchange of views on issues of expanding cooperation between scientists of the two neighboring and friendly countries.
ANAS and its Ganja Branch presented souvenir carpets and scientific books reflecting the 80th anniversary of the Academy and Nizami Ganjavi motifs to the Georgian gongs.
The conference participants visited the mausoleum of the great Azerbaijani poet Nizami Ganjavi, the nearby graves of his father and mother, the Nizami Ganjavi Museum, as well as the bas-relief of the prominent Georgian poet Nikoloz Baratashvili in the place where he lived in the city of Ganja.
During the tours of these places, the guests also gave interviews about the goals of the conference and future joint plans.
