Baku hosts premiere of film dedicated to 100th anniversary of Lieutenant General Arif Heydarov (PHOTO)

BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 26. The premiere of the
documentary film "We remember you, Arif!" dedicated to the 100th
anniversary of the outstanding statesman of Azerbaijan, Lieutenant
General Arif Heydarov, was held, Trend's correspondent reports from the
event.

The event participants were first congratulated on the 108th
anniversary of the establishment of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces.
The memory of the martyrs who gave their lives for the freedom of
Karabakh and the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan was
commemorated with a minute of silence.

Then the National Anthem of Azerbaijan was played.

In his speech, Rafael Huseynov, Deputy Speaker of the
Azerbaijani Parliament and Director of the Nizami Ganjavi National
Museum of Azerbaijani Literature, spoke about Arif Heydarov’s life
and his contribution to the history of statehood. According to him,
Arif Heydarov’s passing was a loss not only for his family but also
for the state.

"Research conducted on Arif Heydarov's service to the state, his
socio-political activities, and his life gives grounds to look at
some events from a different perspective. For many years, this
incident was presented as a crime committed on personal grounds by
a person named Muradov, who worked as a guard in the Shusha
prison," Huseynov said

He noted that further investigations require more serious
analysis of this issue.

"One of the striking points is that the perpetrator entered the
Ministry of Internal Affairs with a large number of rounds, up to
fifty. This casts doubt on the versions that the incident occurred
randomly or only on personal grounds, and strengthens the
possibility that it could be a pre-planned crime. There may be
various possibilities as to which forces were behind this incident.
One of these may be related to the Armenian trace, and the other
may be related to other forces that wanted to influence the future
political governance of Azerbaijan at that time. These are issues
that need to be seriously investigated in the future.

In any case, the death of Arif Heydarov should be assessed not
only as a tragedy of one person, but as one of the important events
that influenced the fate of Azerbaijani statehood and the future
development of the country," Huseynov said.

According to him, although this film about Arif Heydarov is only
about one person, it's actually a film about an epoch, about a very
important period that Azerbaijan went through.

"He was born into a family where it seemed natural that his path
would sooner or later intersect with statehood, state
administration, and the development of Azerbaijan. His father,
Nazar Heydarov, was one of the personalities who made important
contributions to the development and state-building process of
Azerbaijan in the first decades of the 20th century. I was in
Berlin to attend an event of the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Council of Europe. The event was held in the historic Reichstag
building, where the Bundestag is located. In various parts of the
Reichstag, the names, surnames, and dates carved on the walls by
Soviet soldiers during the capture of Berlin in May 1945 are
preserved. Among those inscriptions are the names of about thirty
Azerbaijani fighters. As research progressed, it was possible to
identify several of them.

One of those names belonged to Arif Heydarov. So, my second
meeting with Arif Heydarov took place right there. The wall simply
read: 'Arif. May, 1945.' This inscription said a lot. So, he went
to the front before he was even of war age, went through the most
difficult

That's why he was a great man. In his later life, he was
repeatedly faced with the threat of death while serving in the
state security agencies. He was a brave, courageous, and fighting
personality. Having gone through all these trials, he was formed as
Arif Heydarov.

His services in the history of Azerbaijani statehood are of
exceptional importance. His professionalism and personality were
highly respected both in Türkiye and in Moscow.

Arif Heydarov, who headed the internal affairs bodies for eight
years, gained high prestige not only in Azerbaijan, but also on the
scale of the USSR. During official visits to foreign countries, he
worthily represented Azerbaijan with his knowledge, political
preparation, and high culture. He was one of the outstanding
statesmen who brought honor to the name of the Azerbaijani people
with his activity, personality, and loyalty to the state," Huseynov
added.

Honorary Chairman of the "Alliance" Public Union of Veterans of
the Special Service Bodies of Azerbaijan, Shamil Suleymanov, spoke
about Arif Heydarov's activities in his speech and said that he was
always in the ranks of the collective and earned great respect.

According to him, after returning from Germany, Heydarov was
appointed head of the Iranian department of the Intelligence
Department of the State Security Committee of Azerbaijan.
Suleymanov noted that during his tenure, Heydarov established order
in the department, strengthened service discipline, and restored
the necessary subordination regime. As a result, he gained the
sym

Suleymanov said that the tragic incident that occurred in the
ministry on January 29, 1988, ended Arif Heydarov's life. According
to him, this incident was a great loss not only for the State
Security Committee and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but also
for the entire Azerbaijani people and the peoples of the USSR.

The first secretary of the Union of Writers of Azerbaijan,
writer Chingiz Abdullayev, also said in his speech that Arif
Heydarov participated in the "Vistula-Oder" operation, and
information about it is contained in various sources, including
Wikipedia.

He called on everyone who studies or writes about this topic to
take into account these historical facts:

"There are official documents regarding the presentation of Arif
Heydarov to the title of Hero of the Soviet Union precisely for his
bravery in the Vistula-Oder operation. Although he was awarded the
Order of the Red Banner, the goal was to give him a higher state
award. As you know, in the post-war period, certain jealousy and
discrimination were observed towards Azerbaijanis," Abdullayev
explained.

The documentary film was then shown.

After the screening of the documentary, the film's project
manager, son of Arif Heydarov, Murad Heydarov, made a speech and
said that his father did his job worthily and never considered it
heroic.

He noted that the greatest gift on the occasion of his father's
100th anniversary is the liberation of the Azerbaijani lands from
occupation under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev, the
Victorious Supreme Commander-in-Chief.

"We tried to rely on archival documents and concrete facts
during the filming. We express our gratitude to everyone who
supported the film."

Murad Heydarov added that in this film, they tried to reveal
Arif Heydarov's personality in more depth, as well as show the
socio-political context of the period in which he was active.

Murad Heydarov also said that after his father's death, Heydar
Aliyev and his family surrounded them with attention and care.
According to him, the family of the National Leader always
supported them during difficult times.

"As is well known, my father had close ties with Heydar Aliyev.
After his death, Heydar Aliyev's family was always by our side.
Zarifa Aliyeva, in particular, took great care of us," he said.

The directors of the film are Alisattar Guliyev and Rustam
Babazade, and the screenwriter is Leonid Mlechin. The project
manager of the film is Murad Heydarov.

The film featured songs and music that Arif Heydarov loved very
much.