Today, Mayor Nikola Dašić hosted a reception at City Hall for H.E. Tahir Taghi-Zadeh, the newly appointed Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan to Serbia.
The reception was also attended by Danka Andonovski, Member of the City Council in charge of International Cooperation and Local Government, while the Embassy delegation included Orhan Aliyev, First Secretary and Consul, Elmedin Hasanov, Military Attaché, and Jafar Mammadov, Assistant Military Attaché.
The meeting highlighted that the traditionally good relations between Serbia and Azerbaijan, based on strategic partnership and mutual respect, provide a solid foundation for stronger ties at the local level as well.
Mayor Dašić stressed that Kragujevac was particularly honoured that, after taking office in Serbia, Ambassador Taghi-Zadeh chose Kragujevac for his first official visit to a city in Serbia.
We greatly appreciate His Excellency’s respect for the history of our city and his sincere desire to develop and deepen our relations. Kragujevac has a long tradition of cooperation with cities around the world and a large number of friendship and twinning ties. It would be a great pleasure for us to expand this circle by establishing ties with a city in Azerbaijan as well, Dašić said.
He added that the initiative to establish ties with an Azerbaijani city opens up opportunities for concrete discussions and future projects in the fields of education, economy, business, culture and other areas of mutual interest.
Ambassador Tahir Taghi-Zadeh stressed that his choice of Kragujevac for his first visit outside Belgrade was not accidental, but was motivated by the city’s rich history and its significance in the development of the modern Serbian state. The Sretenje Constitution was adopted here, and important processes in the development of Serbian statehood originated here. I am very grateful to the Mayor for his openness, cordiality and the constructive discussion we had today, the Ambassador said.
Taghi-Zadeh also particularly underscored the importance of preserving the memory of the Azerbaijani soldiers who lost their lives in the battles for the liberation of Kragujevac and Serbia during the Second World War, noting that Azerbaijan greatly appreciates the people of Kragujevac’s attitude towards this part of their shared history.
At the same time, he stressed that the intention of both sides was for cooperation not to remain focused solely on preserving their shared memory, but also to look towards the future. That is why I have also come to Kragujevac with a concrete proposal to establish a sister-city relationship between Kragujevac and the city of Lankaran, in southern Azerbaijan, Taghi-Zadeh said.
During his visit to Kragujevac, Ambassador Tahir Taghi-Zadeh, together with his associates and representatives of the Kragujevac SUBNOR Association, laid wreaths at Palilula Cemetery, at the memorial plaque commemorating the deaths of 26 Red Army soldiers in the battles for the liberation of Kragujevac in 1944, 16 of whom were Azerbaijanis. Wreaths were also laid at the Monument to the Executed Students and Teachers in Šumarice.
