Category: Azer News

On October 30, the “Ancestors” exhibition opened at the QGallery in Icherisheher, Azernews reports.

The exhibition is included in the Art Weekend, which is organized by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the IDEA Public Union, with the support of the Azerbaijan Culture Ministry.

Vice-President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and founder and head of IDEA Public Union Leyla Aliyeva, along with Arzu Aliyeva and Alena Aliyeva, attended the event to familiarize themselves with the displays.

The exhibition showcases contemporary Azerbaijani artists – Faig Ahmed, Rashad Alakbarov, Orkhan Huseynov, and Farid Rasulov, who strive to bridge the past and present through their art pieces, allowing visitors to connect with the deep layers of the national spirit.

Faig Ahmed presented human portraits in mostly minimalistic forms. While the pieces appear simple at first glance, they invite viewers to introspect and explore their own emotions.

Rashad Alakbarov focused on the concept of “Proverbs of the Ancestors,” translating the profound wisdom of the people into visual art. He believes that many proverbs remain relevant across generations, carrying timeless meaning.

Farid Rasulov centered his works around sheep, which he views as a totemic symbol. In his perspective, sheep and lambs have been integral to life since ancient times, and his work emphasizes the symbolic and cultural continuity passed down from ancestors to the present day.

Orkhan Huseynov explored history through everyday life details often overlooked today. His works depict the homeland’s landscapes, native lands, soil, lakes, and inhabited spaces, allowing viewers to rediscover the places marked by previous generations.

The “Ancestors” exhibition encourages visitors to reflect on their place in the chain of generations, emphasizing that each individual contributes to shaping the future. It also highlights that land is not merely a cradle of life but a silent repository of ancestral memory, preserving the traces of those who came before us.

The Absheron-Khizi regional judo championship for athletes under 14 will be held soon, Azernews reports.

The Azerbaijan Judo Federation announced the upcoming event, which is scheduled for November 1-2 at the Sumgayit Olympic Sports Complex.

The main purpose of the tournament is to strengthen the foundation of young judokas and select athletes who will qualify for the national championship through regional quotas.

A total of 176 young competitors from Absheron, Khizi, and Sumgayit are set to take part in the championship.

Founded in 1972, the Azerbaijan Judo Federation actively promotes this martial art across the country. Since 2015, the Federation has been led by Rovnag Abdullayev.

The country’s modern judo history was laid by Mehman Azizov, who won a silver medal at the Old World Championship in 1998.

A year later, the winner of the World Youth Games in Moscow, Rasul Salimov, grabbed the bronze medal at the European Championship in Slovakia. Another national judoka, Elchin Ismayilov, became the European champion in 2000 in Wroclaw.

However, the achievements of Azerbaijani judo fighters did not stop there. Elnur Mammadli was named the best at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in the 73 kg division.

The list of the country’s top judo fighters includes Rustam Orujov, Irina Kindzerskaya, Mammadali Mehdiyev, Elmar Gasimov, Hidayat Heydarov, Zelim Kotsoev, Ushangi Kokauri, and Nijat Shikhalizada.

At the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games, judokas Hidayat Heydarov (73 kg) and Zelym Kotsoiev (100 kg) earned gold medals for Azerbaijan.

The team behind Character.ai announced that it will soon restrict access to open chats for underage users as part of a new safety policy set to take effect on November 25, 2025, Azernews reports.

Character.ai is a platform that allows users to create and interact with custom chatbots, where each AI can be given a unique personality, behavior pattern, and communication style. However, according to the latest statement from the project team, minors will soon lose open access to chatbots on the platform.

Starting October 30, Character.ai began gradually reducing the amount of time underage users can spend chatting with AI – from two hours a day to a complete ban by late November.

At the same time, the developers are working on a new ‘safe zone’ section, which will feature approved chatbots suitable for younger audiences. The company will also introduce an age verification system in collaboration with Persona, a digital identity verification service.

In parallel, Character.ai announced the creation of a nonprofit organization called the AI Safety Lab, which will focus on developing innovative methods to ensure safe interactions between humans and artificial intelligence.

According to the company, the policy shift reflects growing concerns about the potential psychological impact of AI conversations on children and teenagers. The decision was made after consultations with regulatory bodies, legal experts, and parents of underage users.

The move follows several tragic and high-profile incidents. In February 2024, a 14-year-old teenager, Sewell Setzer III, took his own life after prolonged interactions with a chatbot modeled after Daenerys Targaryen from George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series. The teen had reportedly sent romantic messages to the bot and shared suicidal thoughts before his death.

In October 2024, his mother, Megan Garcia, filed a lawsuit against Character.ai, which the company sought to dismiss – but the court allowed the case to proceed. In September 2025, the developers faced another lawsuit, intensifying public debate over the ethical responsibilities of AI platforms.

As AI technology becomes more deeply integrated into everyday life, Character.ai’s policy change may mark the beginning of a broader industry-wide shift toward stronger safeguards for younger users – balancing innovation with responsibility.

An international conference titled ‘Belgian Colonialism: Recognition and Responsibility’ is being held today under the organization of the Baku Initiative Group, Azernews reports.

The event is dedicated to examining Belgium’s colonial past and the severe consequences that continue to affect its former colonies. Representatives from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Burundi, all former Belgian colonies, are attending the conference, alongside diplomats and government officials.

The gathering brings together experts in international law, historians, researchers, civil society activists, and specialists on reparations from eight countries. Participants are expected to discuss the historical injustices of Belgium’s colonial rule and explore pathways toward recognition, accountability, and restorative justice.

Belgium’s colonial history – centered above all in the Congo – remains one of the most controversial and brutal episodes in modern European imperialism. Though often overshadowed by the colonial legacies of larger empires like Britain and France, Belgium’s rule in Central Africa stands out for its extreme violence, exploitative economic system, and enduring social and political consequences.

Belgium entered the colonial race relatively late. King Leopold II, frustrated by his small nation’s lack of global influence, personally acquired vast territories in Central Africa in the 1880s under the guise of humanitarianism and anti-slavery efforts. At the Berlin Conference of 1884-85, European powers recognized Leopold’s claim over what he called the Congo Free State, a territory nearly 80 times the size of Belgium, ruled not by the Belgian government, but as the king’s private domain.

When independence came in 1960, it was sudden and chaotic. Belgium had done little to prepare the Congo for self-rule; at independence, there were only a handful of Congolese university graduates. Within days, mutinies broke out in the army, Belgian troops intervened, and the mineral-rich province of Katanga seceded with Belgian corporate backing.

The legacy of Belgian colonialism is visible across many dimensions of Congolese life:

Economic dependency: The colonial focus on mineral extraction for export left the Congolese economy vulnerable and under-diversified. Today, the Democratic Republic of Congo remains one of the world’s richest countries in natural resources, yet among the poorest in human development.

Weak institutions: The lack of an educated administrative class and the colonial suppression of local governance created a vacuum in post-independence leadership and state capacity.

Ethnic fragmentation: Belgian authorities often exploited ethnic divisions through a ‘divide and rule’ strategy, deepening cleavages that persist in political and regional conflicts.

Cultural erasure and trauma: Generations of Congolese were subjected to racial hierarchy and cultural devaluation, effects that endure in questions of identity, language, and education.

The Baku Military Court continued its proceedings on October 31 in the criminal case against citizens of the Republic of Armenia accused of committing war crimes and other grave offenses, Azernews reports.

According to Azernews, the session involved the announcement of documents and several procedural motions. The lawyer of the accused Levon Mnatsakanyan, Ogtay Madatov, requested a meeting with his client during the break, which the judge approved.

Another defendant, David Manukyan, filed a motion to separate the charge of creating an organized criminal group from his case. His lawyer, Valeh Gurbanov, supported the motion; however, the public prosecutor, Fuad Musayev, noted that it was not appropriate for the current stage of the trial. Following deliberation, the court rejected the motion as unfounded.

Later, Madat Babayan’s lawyer, Leyla Namazzadeh, filed a motion to exclude certain episodes from the charges against her client, which Babayan supported. Public Prosecutor Tarana Mammadova opposed the request, and the court stated that the motion would be reviewed in deliberation.

The trial concerns Armenian citizens accused of crimes against peace and humanity, including war crimes, terrorism, financing terrorism, genocide, and other offenses stemming from Armenia’s military aggression against Azerbaijan. The hearings are ongoing

A delegation of foreign diplomats is visiting Azerbaijan’s Jabrayil and Zangilan regions, retracing the steps of President Ilham Aliyev, Azernews reports.

Hikmat Hajiyev, Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan and Head of the Department of Foreign Policy Affairs of the Presidential Administration, shared the update on his ‘X’ account.

We are visiting the Jabrayil and Zangilan districts together with members of the diplomatic corps, following in the footsteps of President Ilham Aliyev. The first stop of our trip is the village of Horovlu.

An international conference titled ‘Belgian Colonialism: Recognition and Responsibility’ is being held today under the organization of the Baku Initiative Group, Azernews reports.

The event is dedicated to examining Belgium’s colonial past and the severe consequences that continue to affect its former colonies. Representatives from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Burundi, all former Belgian colonies, are attending the conference, alongside diplomats and government officials.

The gathering brings together experts in international law, historians, researchers, civil society activists, and specialists on reparations from eight countries. Participants are expected to discuss the historical injustices of Belgium’s colonial rule and explore pathways toward recognition, accountability, and restorative justice.

Belgium’s colonial history – centered above all in the Congo – remains one of the most controversial and brutal episodes in modern European imperialism. Though often overshadowed by the colonial legacies of larger empires like Britain and France, Belgium’s rule in Central Africa stands out for its extreme violence, exploitative economic system, and enduring social and political consequences.

Belgium entered the colonial race relatively late. King Leopold II, frustrated by his small nation’s lack of global influence, personally acquired vast territories in Central Africa in the 1880s under the guise of humanitarianism and anti-slavery efforts. At the Berlin Conference of 1884-85, European powers recognized Leopold’s claim over what he called the Congo Free State, a territory nearly 80 times the size of Belgium, ruled not by the Belgian government, but as the king’s private domain.

When independence came in 1960, it was sudden and chaotic. Belgium had done little to prepare the Congo for self-rule; at independence, there were only a handful of Congolese university graduates. Within days, mutinies broke out in the army, Belgian troops intervened, and the mineral-rich province of Katanga seceded with Belgian corporate backing.

The legacy of Belgian colonialism is visible across many dimensions of Congolese life:

Economic dependency: The colonial focus on mineral extraction for export left the Congolese economy vulnerable and under-diversified. Today, the Democratic Republic of Congo remains one of the world’s richest countries in natural resources, yet among the poorest in human development.

Weak institutions: The lack of an educated administrative class and the colonial suppression of local governance created a vacuum in post-independence leadership and state capacity.

Ethnic fragmentation: Belgian authorities often exploited ethnic divisions through a ‘divide and rule’ strategy, deepening cleavages that persist in political and regional conflicts.

Cultural erasure and trauma: Generations of Congolese were subjected to racial hierarchy and cultural devaluation, effects that endure in questions of identity, language, and education.

The Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum has opened an exhibition titled “Art and Weapon: Traditional Azerbaijani Weapons Through the Eyes of Artists”, Azernews reports.

The exhibition, dedicated to the 5th anniversary of the Victory in the 44-day Patriotic War, was organized jointly by the Azerbaijan Culture Ministry and the Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum.

The event was opened by the museum’s director, Amina Malikova, who stated that this exhibition would present the historical, technological, and artistic development of traditional Azerbaijani weapons through the creativity of contemporary artists.

The exhibition features about 30 works of art created by 26 painters and sculptors. As the first large-scale project prepared with a principle of a comprehensive approach to the topic, the presented works reflect a synthesis of academic and postmodernist approaches, as well as influences from the classical miniature heritage.

The exhibition’s curators, Sevil Karimova, Vice-Rector of the Azerbaijan State University of Culture and Arts and PhD in Art Studies, and Sabuhi Ahmadov, PhD in History and author of the catalog “Steel Patterns: The Weapon Collection of the Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum,” spoke about the significance of the exhibition.

It was emphasized that the exhibition and the first catalog dedicated to the museum’s weapon collection hold special importance for presenting Azerbaijani arms heritage, national craftsmanship traditions, and the history of statehood in an artistic context, as well as for promoting national-cultural identity.

At the opening ceremony, students from the SABAH Center of the Azerbaijan State University of Culture and Arts presented a dramatic-choreographic composition titled “The Weapon of Justice Triumphs Over Evil Forces.”

Afterwards, participants of the event had the opportunity to closely view the exhibition.

The exposition also features rare weapon samples from the personal collections of collectors Yusif Bagirzad? and Ilqar H?s?n?lizad?, dating from the 16th-19th centuries.

Among these exhibits are weapons that belonged to Prince Abbas Mirza Qajar, Nasreddin Shah Qajar, one of the governors of the Safavid state, and the Khan of Shaki. Additionally, replicas of weapons traditionally made, including those of Sultan Uzun H?s?n and Shah Ismail Khatai, as well as Zulfiqar swords and shashkas, are on display.

Azerbaijan continues expanding the Alat Free Economic Zone (AEZ), with nearly all available land allocated to investors, Azernews reports.

Valeh Alasgarov, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the AEZ’s Authorized Body, said during a business meeting with members of the Istanbul Chamber of Industry (ISO) Assembly in Baku that around 200 hectares of land are currently under the zone’s management, of which approximately 138 hectares have already been presented to investors.

According to Alasgarov, construction work on the remaining areas will be completed within the next two weeks and offered to new investors. ‘Currently, 23 hectares of land have been presented for factories producing solar panels. The last of the three factories will operate exclusively for this purpose, while the other two will produce silicon crystals and other materials used in panel manufacturing,’ he noted.

He added that companies from China, India, Russia, Israel, and Trkiye have already registered in the AEZ. ‘Four of them are conducting construction work. Two companies will begin production by the end of this year, and the remaining two plan to present their products in the coming years,’ Alasgarov stated.

The AEZ is seen as a cornerstone of Azerbaijan’s industrial diversification strategy, attracting foreign investment and promoting renewable energy technologies.

Azerbaijan continues expanding the Alat Free Economic Zone (AEZ), with nearly all available land allocated to investors, Azernews reports.

Valeh Alasgarov, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the AEZ’s Authorized Body, said during a business meeting with members of the Istanbul Chamber of Industry (ISO) Assembly in Baku that around 200 hectares of land are currently under the zone’s management, of which approximately 138 hectares have already been presented to investors.

According to Alasgarov, construction work on the remaining areas will be completed within the next two weeks and offered to new investors. ‘Currently, 23 hectares of land have been presented for factories producing solar panels. The last of the three factories will operate exclusively for this purpose, while the other two will produce silicon crystals and other materials used in panel manufacturing,’ he noted.

He added that companies from China, India, Russia, Israel, and Trkiye have already registered in the AEZ. ‘Four of them are conducting construction work. Two companies will begin production by the end of this year, and the remaining two plan to present their products in the coming years,’ Alasgarov stated.

The AEZ is seen as a cornerstone of Azerbaijan’s industrial diversification strategy, attracting foreign investment and promoting renewable energy technologies.