The event saw the participation of Fuad Muradov, the Chairman of the State Committee on Work with Diaspora of the Republic of Azerbaijan; Aydin Kerimov, the Special Representative of the President of Azerbaijan for the city of Shusha; the Mayor of the Greater Kayseri Municipality; the Mayor of Talas; members of the Turkish parliament from Kayseri; representatives of the local community; and Azerbaijanis living and studying in the city.
Before the ceremony, attendees visited a memorial erected in the Azerbaijani Brotherhood Park to commemorate the victims of the Khojaly genocide.
Mustafa Yalçın, the Mayor of the Talas district, congratulated the participants on the opening of the Azerbaijan House “Shusha” and discussed the idea of creating in Kayseri, a twin city of Shusha, the Azerbaijani Brotherhood Park and the Azerbaijan House “Shusha”. Najaf Gambarov, the Coordinator of the Azerbaijan House “Shusha”, expressed his wishes for the cultural center to successfully serve the benefit of both brotherly countries.
Memduh Büyükkılıç, the Mayor of the Greater Kayseri Municipality, remarked that the liberation of Karabakh was once a dream, but today the opening of the Azerbaijan House, named “Shusha” – a symbol of Victory in Karabakh, represents the result of the far-sighted policies of the presidents of both countries, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Ilham Aliyev, and their vision of being “one nation, two states, one fist”.
Aydin Kerimov, the Presidential Representative for the Shusha district, highlighted that the Azerbaijan House “Shusha” marks the first project between the two brotherly cities, noting that over the last three years, Shusha has established twinning and cooperation with nine cities from different countries, including the Turkish cities of Erzurum and Kayseri.
Fuad Muradov, addressing the attendees, emphasized the importance of the opening of the Azerbaijan House “Shusha” as a significant event. “Under the directive of President Ilham Aliyev, we have begun opening Azerbaijani houses as centers of culture consolidating our compatriots living abroad. Initiated by the First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva, Azerbaijani Sunday schools operate in these houses, where hundreds of our young compatriots learn their native language annually. The Azerbaijan House ‘Shusha’ is the 29th of such houses opened in 15 countries around the world, and the third in Türkiye,” said Muradov. He also remarked that the victory in Shusha was a historic event that marked the end of the Second Karabakh War, thanking the Turkish people for their support during those historical days and expressing confidence that the opening of the Azerbaijan House “Shusha” in Kayseri will contribute to the promotion of Azerbaijani culture.
Following the speeches, a ribbon-cutting ceremony symbolized the official opening of the Azerbaijan House “Shusha”. Participants were then given a tour of the Azerbaijan House “Shusha”.
