“The protection and development of the national-moral values, traditions, and national mentality of our people was the main goal of the activities of Great Leader Heydar Aliyev during both periods when he led Azerbaijan. He considered these issues strategic and tried to preserve all the national characteristics of our people. It is no secret that this was a sensitive moment during the years of Soviet rule. But Heydar Aliyev, the eldest son of our nation, was able to do these things without shying away from anything. Of course, this also came from his endless love for his people, his native country. One of the main issues he paid attention to was the language of our people. The Great Leader knew very well how important the language of the people is in his life. Thus, the role of our language in the development of the national self-awareness and self-awareness of our people has been invaluable. Likewise, the creation and development of our world-conquering literature is directly related to our language. It is known that during the Soviet era, the Russian language was dominant, Russian was spoken at all official events, and this became a tradition. Heydar Aliyev was the first person to break this stereotype among the officials of the republics that joined the Soviet Union. So, in November 1969, at the 50th anniversary of the Azerbaijan State University, he made a speech in his native language – Azerbaijani, showing great courage. This decisive step of his spread throughout the country and awakened the national spirit in the people. The Great Leader thus revealed the identity of his people.”
Sattar Mohbaliyev, chairman of the Azerbaijan Trade Unions Confederation (ATUC), member of the Milli Majlis, expressed these views to the mass media.
The chairman of ATUC added that Great Leader was doing important work in the direction of protecting and enriching our language and training professionals in this field: “He treated linguists with great attention and care, and tried to increase the number of books in his native language. Mother tongue was an important issue for the Great Leader even during the leadership of independent Azerbaijan. On his initiative, the state language was reflected as Azerbaijani in Article 21 of our Constitution adopted in 1995. Also, the signed decrees and orders on the improvement of the implementation of the state language, the approval of the composition of the State Language Commission, the establishment of the Azerbaijani Alphabet and the Day of the Azerbaijani Language, and the adoption of the Law on the State Language of the Republic of Azerbaijan in 2003 played an important role in defining and strengthening the language policy of our state. “.