1st Congress Of Azerbaijani Diaspora Representatives Opens In Baku

The 1st congress of Azerbaijanis living in other countries is to be held in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, November 9-10, the Azerbaijani president's apparatus informed RIA Novosti. The congress is expected to be attended by over 500 representatives of Azerbaijani diaspora from nearly 40 countries of the world, including Russia, Germany, Turkey, the USA, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Canada and other countries. President Geidar Aliyev of Azerbaijan is expected to take part in the conference. The congress will focus on consolidation of Azerbaijanis and other peoples of Azerbaijani origin to protect their interests in the countries of living, as well as strengthening of their ties with a historic motherland. An organisational structure uniting Azerbaijanis in the whole world is expected to be set up. Moreover, the problem of migration, which has become very acute of late in the light of open communication with the world, and mass migration of labour resources, will be discussed. According to non-official data, over 2 million Azerbaijanis left the country over the past 7-10 years. A special attention will be paid to the problem of restoring historical cultural unity of Azeri people. The Azerbaijani nation belongs historically to the so-called split peoples. After the Russian-Persian wars of the first half of the 19th century the historical Azerbaijani lands were divided between the Russian Empire and Persia in line with the Turkmanchai peace treaty of 1828. Currently, Azerbaijan has a 8 million population. According to some non-official data, up to 20-25 million Azerbaijanis live in Iran, while the total number of Azerbaijanis in the world amounts to 40 million.