Azernews.Az

A ceremony of issuing a series of stamps reflecting the history of Western Azerbaijan has been held at the National Art Museum with the support of the Ministry of Digital Development and Transport and Azerpost LLC and on the initiative of the Western Azerbaijan Community, Azernews reports.

Chairman of the Western Azerbaijan Community Aziz Alakbarli assessed the issuance of stamps as an important step in his speech.

"This is not just the issuance of ordinary postage stamps, this is the transfer of the truths of Western Azerbaijan from country to country, from house to house, from collection to collection, from archive to archive. When we first began to explore Western Azerbaijan, postage stamps related to the city of Iravan, issued during the times of Tsarist Russia, came to our aid. These stamps once again confirmed that Iravan was historically a Muslim city. Today, through these postage stamps, we will convey to the world community the appearance of Western Azerbaijan, images of personalities and monuments of this region. After that, our joint activities in this direction will continue," he said.

Deputy Minister of Digital Development and Transport Samir Mammadov noted that to date, Azerpost has issued a number of historical stamps with important content. These stamps are of great importance and are an important means of propaganda.

"Western Azerbaijan is our ancient land. This is confirmed by many historical documents. Stamps also prove this. Historical documents and archival materials have also repeatedly provided this evidence to the world community. As the head of our state noted, we are well aware that the Azerbaijani people have lived in the territory of present-day Armenia throughout history. Now the main task is for the world community to know about this, too," the deputy minister added.

The theme of the stamps was chosen by the organizers with special care. Thus, the stamps, consisting of 7 blocks, pay attention to the reflection of the political history, architecture and culture of Western Azerbaijan. Accordingly, the stamps depict the portrait of Huseyngulu Khan Sardar, the last khan of the Iravan Khanate, a coin minted during the period of Fath Ali Shah Qajar, Sardar's palace, Sardar's mosque, the Blue Mosque, as well as portraits of Ashugh Aly and Ashugh Alesker, who are considered representatives of the Iravan ashugh school.

In addition, one of the blocks is dedicated to the paintings "The Surrender of the Erivan Fortress" painted by the Russian artist Franz Roubaud in 1886, and "The Blue Mosque in Iravan" by the French artist Frederic Dubois de Montperreux (1833). Thus, the historical reality was reflected in the new stamps through old paintings.

The artistic part of the event continued with a program dedicated to the music of Iravan.