Prof Hasanli held a seminar at Harvard University

Ukraine isn't the only country where Russia's imperial influence is apparent or where the Western attentions are focused, said Jamil Hasanli an Azerbaijani historian, author, and politician, in his speech before Harvard University's Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies on Tuesday, February 18th.

Speaking in front of Harvard University students and scholars, Prof. Hasanli, who is also the chairman of the National Council of Democratic Forces on Azerbaijan, reminded the audience that Azerbaijan is being managed by a same Russia-backed family for more than a half a century.

President Ilham Aliyev once called Russia's Vladimir Putin a "number one politician in the world stage".

"This, in itself, is quite telling," Hasanli added.

The seminar was dedicated to Soviet Foreign Policy on the USSR's southern borders  in the early years of the Cold War.

In his speech, Hasanli reminded that with the victorious conclusion of the war in Europe there arose in the leadership of the Soviet Union hopes of the possibility of an active penetration into the Middle East region.

Iran, Turkey, and the Xinjiang region of China were to play a special place in the realization of the plans of Soviet expansionism to the East.

"The victories of Soviet troops in Europe were accompanied by an intensification of the methods of force and influence in Moscow's diplomacy."

While at the State Archive of the Russian Federation in Moscow, Hasanli was riveted by a collection titled “Xinjiang, Iranian Azerbaijan, Turkey 1941–1953."

"It was no coincidence that documents on the three counties to the south were grouped in this manner," he said, adding that the documents were reflective of an identical political line adopted by the Soviets during this period.

The seminar was sponsored by the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies.

The participants also asked questions about current state of play in Azerbaijan, as well as the latest developments in the region.

A.Raufoglu

Boston, Cambridge