Azerbaijani culture and art in spotlight in Los Angeles
By Nigar Orujova
The prestigious International Visitors Council of Los Angeles (IVCLA) hosted an event dedicated to Azerbaijani culture, art and citizen diplomacy on July 25, the Consulate General of Azerbaijan in Los Angeles reported. The event took place at the Levantine Cultural Center.
Speaking at the event Consul General of Azerbaijan in Los Angeles Nasimi Aghayev informed the audience about Azerbaijan's history, culture, traditions of strong ethnic and religious tolerance, the country's steady development as an independent nation, its oil strategy, as well as its relations with the U.S., Europe and neighboring states.
Highlighting the challenges faced by Azerbaijan, Aghayev spoke about the illegal military occupation of 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory by Armenia.
"This illegal occupation is not only a flagrant breach of international law. It is also a huge violation of basic human rights," he said. "The policies of Armenia's leadership do not only impede the restoration of sustainable peace and stability in the region. These policies also put the future of the Armenian people under question and drive the country to an even bigger catastrophy."
Stressing the fact that since independence Armenia has lost around 1 million of its population, and referring to a recent international poll which has revealed that almost half of Armenia's population want to permanently leave the country, Aghayev said that all these are direct results of destructive policies pursued by Armenia's government, which are primarily damaging Armenians themselves.
A number of representatives of radical Armenian organizations, who were also present at the event, tried to obstruct the event by making much noise, but faced a harsh reaction of the event participants and were booed out of the event venue.
The event conculded with performance of Azerbaijani songs by the Azerbaijani singer Shahla Saroukhani, who received multiple ovations.
The IVCLA is a non-profit, non-partisan organization aimed to create international understanding and cooperation between the Los Angeles region and the rest of the world. IVCLA works to accomplish this mission through the professional meetings and cultural activities.