Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

Romanian National Culture Day - the day when National Poet of Romania Mihai Eminescu was born 165 years ago will be celebrated in Azerbaijan’s capital city Baku on January 15.

“Azerbaijan is a strategic partner for Romania and the relations between our countries are strongly developing in all fields. Romania has been the second country in the world which recognized independence of Azerbaijan. Bilateral political dialogue and economic cooperation developed in 2014 very successfully. According to the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan, Romanian exports to Azerbaijan increased for three years in a row and reached in 2014 the highest level since Azerbaijan became an independent state (Romanian exports rose from 14.90 million U.S. dollars in 2011 to 23.99 million U.S. dollars in 2012 and 36.45 million U.S. dollars in 2013 to exceed 50.5 million U.S. dollars in the first 11 months of 2014),” Daniel Cristian Ciobanu, Romanian Ambassador to Azerbaijan said in a statement on the occasion of country’s national holiday.

Noting that Romanian culture is appreciated in Azerbaijan, Ciobanu said in 2014 as in previous years Romanian Embassy in Baku participated at the European Film Festival (organized in Azerbaijan by Diplomatic Missions of European Union member states) and Romanian movies being each time very warmly received by Azerbaijani public.

He reminded that in 2014 as in previous years the embassy presented a national pavilion which enjoyed great success at the EuroVillage Festival (organized in Baku by Diplomatic Missions of European Union member states in partnership with the Administration of the State Historical-Architectural Reserve “Icheri Sheher”).

Embassy also participated every year with a national stand at the International Cultural Festival (organized by ADA University). In 2013 Embassy of Romania presented a national pavilion at the International Festival “Living History” in Baku.

The book dedicated to Romanian fairy tales, which has been printed two years ago in Azerbaijani language with the support of Embassy of Romania, caught the attention of the Azerbaijan public.

Also, the concert organized in Baku by the embassy in last December on the occasion of country’s national day by a Romanian folk group performing winter festive songs (included in UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of humanity) contributed to creating a deeper understanding in Azerbaijan of Romania’s national traditions.

“Embassy of Romania would like to thank Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Azerbaijan and Heydar Aliyev Foundation for the permanent support in developing bilateral cultural cooperation,” Ciobanu said.

This year the festivities on the occasion of Romanian National Culture Day will start at 11.00 a.m. on January 15 with a flower-laying ceremony at the monument of Romanian composer George Enescu in Baku (at the crossroads of Jafar Khandan street and Azadliq Avenue).

Afterwards, Embassy of Romania, Ministry of Communications and High Technologies of Azerbaijan and Azermarka will organize a ceremony celebrating the issuing of a joint stamp edition Romania-Azerbaijan, on the topic of Traditional Folk Art, dedicated to the valuable crafts of pottery and tapestry characteristic to both countries.

The two stamps of the philatelic issue illustrate the crafts of interior tapestry and traditional pottery by reproducing a Horezu ceramic bowl together with a traditional rug from the region of Oltenia, respectively an Azeri copper vessel from Lahic and a rug with local patterns (Horezu ceramics are also among the Romanian elements listed on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage).

The festivities on January 15will end with a poetry moment, during which poems of Romanian National Poet Mihai Eminescu will be read.

Azerbaijan and Romania have a long history of relations dating back to the 15th century.

While the two sides enjoy good cooperation in multiple areas, the main focus has been on trade and energy links, with trade delegations and frequent talks on further development of such ties and an increase in bilateral trade since trade originating from Azerbaijan approximately five times more than ($161 million) of those from Romania ($31.83 million).

Romania also has been a strong advocate of Azerbaijan's future membership of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), pointing out the strategic importance of the country for trade and shipping, particularly with a view towards Afghanistan.

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Sara Rajabova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @SaraRajabova

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