Sometimes the fate of a nation is measured not by the strength of its army, but by the fate of its language. History shows that a land that is not defended by the sword but by words ultimately becomes alienated. Because when the language is destroyed, the land becomes alienated. When language weakens, memory diminishes and when memory diminishes, a people begins to lose the ability to recognize themselves. That is why the sayings told by President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev about the Azerbaijani language is not just a philological appeal, but a manifesto of national security and statehood.

Head of the Dede Gorgud Department of the Institute of Folklore of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Sciences in Philology, Professor Ramazan Gafarli spoke about this in an interview with an AZERTAC correspondent.

“The Azerbaijani language is not just a means of communication, but the folklore memory of the people, its cultural code and the spiritual foundation of state independence. The memory of this language has stood the test of millennia; states have collapsed, empires have replaced one another, but the word has lived on. Because the Azerbaijani people have often preserved their statehood not on paper, but in quatrains, proverbs and epics. Folklore memory shows that the people first recognize themselves through words and then through flags” mentioned Professor Ramazan Gafarli.