The Chappell Hill based Sancar Turkish Cultural and Community Center hosted a meeting of the Azerbaijani community members living in North Carolina and an art exhibition “Azerbaijan - My Land, My Soul” dedicated to our country.

Employees of the State Committee, officials of the Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the United States, representatives of the local communities and Turkish diaspora, as well as southern Azerbaijanis participated in the event organized by North Carolina based Azerbaijan Friendship Organization. State Committee rendered support to the event.

Fuad Muradov, Chairman of the State Committee on Work with Diaspora, highly appreciated the support of the Turkish cultural center named after the Nobel laureate Aziz Sanjar, a pride of the entire Turkic world. It has been mentioned that it is not the first case, that this center renders support to the Azerbaijani diaspora members. Thus, this center hosted several events including a solemn ceremony on the first anniversary of Azerbaijan's Victory Day organized by our compatriots. “Beside contributing to the development of friendly relations between the United States and Türkiye, this center supports individuals who want to integrate into American society” told Fuad Muradov.

Committee Chairman presented the medals of the Republic of Azerbaijan "For services in Diaspora activity" to Aziz Sanjar, a great friend of Azerbaijan and a world-renowned scientist, and Gunel Krishnan, head of Azerbaijani Association of Minnesota.

Both Aziz Sanjar and Gunel Krishnan expressed their deep gratitude for fair evaluation of their activities. “Azerbaijan is my homeland”, mentioned Aziz Sanjar in his speech.

Adika Igbal, chairwoman of the Azerbaijan Friendship Organization, spoke about the projects implemented by the diaspora organization, and gave a brief information about the works of our southern compatriots - Azerbaijani artists Lala Baghirzade (Laleh Bagherzadi) and Bahram Yusifi (Bahram Yousifi).

"My goal is to introduce Azerbaijani culture to all communities living in the state of North Carolina. Here, I want to show rich culture and traditions of our people to those who are not familiar with Azerbaijan," Lala Baghirzade told.

Azerbaijani artists were presented with a set of "Khari bulbul" and "Kalagayi" on behalf of the State Committee. The art pieces displayed in the exhibition aroused great interest among the participants of the event, including representatives of the local community. The exhibition continued with the performance of the "City Lights Jazz" music group.

It should be noted that Lala Baghirzade (Laleh Bagherzadi) of Azerbaijani origin is a graduate of Urmia University and North Carolina State University. She works as a plant physiologist at Raleigh region branch of the United States Department of Agriculture. Her dream of painting came true in the United States. In 2020, she won the first place at the "We Are All Chained" art exhibition held in New York City. Lala Baghirzade takes an active part in the events organized by the Azerbaijani diaspora operating in the United States.

Bahram Yusifi was born in Piranshahr, Iran. He received his bachelor's degree in graphic arts and painting, and completed his master's degree in oriental studies at the Art University in Tehran. He devoted 23 years of his life to the art of painting and taught painting in schools and various institutions. The expression of feelings and emotions are distinctive features of his works. He is the owner of more than 60 awards.

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