President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has presented the “Istiglal” Order to People's Artist Rasim Balayev.

The head of state first had a conversation with People's Artist Rasim Balayev.

Rasim Balayev: Salaam alaikum.

President Ilham Aliyev: Salaam, it is nice to see you.

Rasim Balayev: I had a dream to hug you after Karabakh, after all your work. Thank goodness, I am lucky to be able to do that.

President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you. First of all, I congratulate you on your birthday anniversary. I wish you good health and continued success.

Rasim Balayev: Thank you very much.

President Ilham Aliyev: You have been delighting the people of Azerbaijan with your art for many years. Your activities have been very productive, you have appeared in dozens of films. In general, you have made a great contribution to the cinematography of Azerbaijan, and this activity continues to this day. I am very pleased and happy with that.

Rasim Balayev: Thank you very much.

President Ilham Aliyev: At the same time, you are very active in the public life of our country. Your very valuable ideas are contributing to the overall development of our country. Of course, your cinema activities are also associated with the images of Babek and Nasimi – for the people of Azerbaijan. You have revived the images of our national hero Babek and our genius poet Nasimi, and you are associated with them in the imagination of the Azerbaijani people.

I want to sincerely congratulate you, wish you good health and a long life. The state of Azerbaijan highly appreciates your activity. You have received many awards during the Soviet era...

Rasim Balayev: The Great Leader always took care of me after I turned 50.

President Ilham Aliyev: Yes, indeed.

Rasim Balayev: And you are continuing that now.

President Ilham Aliyev: As you mentioned, during the years of independence, the Great Leader awarded you with the “Shohrat” Order on your 50th birthday anniversary.

Rasim Balayev: And you honored me with the “Sharaf” Order.

President Ilham Aliyev: Yes, I honored you with the “Sharaf” Order. On the eve of this jubilee, you were awarded with our highest order – “Istiglal”. I congratulate you once again.

Rasim Balayev: Thank you very much, Mr. President. What I wanted to say is that I support all your policies – both domestic and foreign. Our Great Victory is also associated with your name. I am always with the people and meet people of all walks of life, You have written your name in our history as the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, like Babek himself. You are the real Babek. I play him.

This award is a tribute to Azerbaijani art and artists. We are obliged to glorify our heroes and veterans through cinema, with you, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, being in the first place. It is our duty and we must do it.

As a citizen of our country, I closely follow all your activities and we have great faith in you. You celebrate your birthday with the people in the regions, in Karabakh.

President Ilham Aliyev: Yes, thank you.

Rasim Balayev: Everyone, the whole nation can see all this. I wish you every success on this path.

President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you.

Rasim Balayev: Let me say again, Mr. President, we owe you. We owe it to you and our people, and we should glorify this beautiful and magnificent Victory through cinema. Because the Victory, the heroism in the war, the sacrifice of the veterans who participated in it should be shown everywhere. I have been to Shusha once or twice, believe me, my eyes were filled with tears. Because I also went there in 1986, where we took a family photo next to the Isa spring. Then I went there in 2021. You gave us this happiness. You said that we have a strong army and that you know what to do and when to do it. You have finally brought us this success. People love you very much.

President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you very much, Mr. Balayev.

Rasim Balayev: We are always behind our state, our statehood, and we will try to live up to your attention through our future work. I am sure we will make films you and our people will love again.

President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you very much.

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The head of state presented the “Istiglal” Order to Rasim Balayev.