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 paths of war, and fought in the fire.
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 sympathy and deep respect of the staff.
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.
