Yesterday, during a ceremonial meeting marking the 80th anniversary of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, President Ilham Aliyev emphasized the importance of Azerbaijani youth knowing their history and of informing the international community about the historical justice that underpins Azerbaijan’s return to its ancestral lands. The President also highlighted the need to study the history of independent Azerbaijan more actively, noting that over more than thirty years of sovereignty, the country has achieved unprecedented strength and stability.
These remarks have once again raised the question of which areas of modern Azerbaijani historiography require strengthening and how exhibitions, historical maps, and popular-science materials can be used more effectively to promote international recognition of historical truth.
To discuss these issues, Minval Politika spoke with the Director of the Caucasus History Center, analyst, and historian Rizvan Huseynov.
According to Huseynov, the Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan faces major challenges, especially in its 80th anniversary year. However, the expert believes that along with celebrating the anniversary, it is time for deep reform of both the Academy’s structure and the country’s entire scientific infrastructure.
“There are several fundamental directions that must be developed to strengthen Azerbaijani historical science, particularly in the humanities,” Huseynov noted. “First and foremost is source studies. This field is very weakly developed here, yet it forms the foundation for an objective study of history.”
The historian stressed the importance of training specialists abroad, in the world’s leading universities. In his view, Azerbaijani students and young researchers should have the opportunity to study, live, and work with ancient and medieval sources, mastering the ancient and dead languages in which these sources were written.
“This is where one of the key problems lies. Our opponents, including the Armenian side, refer to historical sources to create false narratives about Azerbaijan’s history. To respond effectively, we must be able to work directly with these sources and understand the languages in which they were written,” he said.
Huseynov also pointed to the importance of working in foreign archives. For this, he said, Azerbaijani scholars must publish more often in international journals, participate in foreign conferences, and teach at universities abroad. This not only raises academic standing but also broadens access to archival materials worldwide.
The expert singled out archaeology as one of the priority fields for the development of Azerbaijani historical science:
“Archaeology allows us to fill the gaps left by written sources. Excavation results and discovered artifacts help us prove what cannot be confirmed through documents. In archaeology, we see one of the key directions for the future development of science.”
Equally important, according to Huseynov, is cartography. He noted that Azerbaijan is actively studying Kazakhstan’s experience, where an extensive collection of old maps has been created:
“Our Kazakh colleagues have gathered thousands of maps, including hundreds of medieval ones that depict the territory of Azerbaijan. Work is now underway to publish a large compendium of these maps, which will undoubtedly contribute positively to the study of our history.”
Huseynov is convinced that the development of academic science is impossible without creating independent research laboratories and working groups, as has been done in Kazakhstan:
“There, interdisciplinary teams of scholars receive grants for specific research projects and are required to present tangible results. It’s a living system where funding supports not formal salaries but concrete scientific outcomes. Such an approach would allow us to advance priority research, attract foreign experts, and strengthen the conceptual foundations of Azerbaijani historiography.”
In conclusion, Huseynov stressed that reforming the scientific system is not merely an administrative measure, but a necessity for building a modern, competitive historical school capable of defending Azerbaijan’s historical truth on the international stage.
