British Ambassador to the Azerbaijan Republic Irfan Siddig visited the Azerbaijan Translation Centre under the Cabinet of Ministers (AzTC) January 7 for a roundtable discussion with its Director Afag Masud.

After greeting the British diplomat in the course of the formal, on-the-record talk, AzTC Director Masud highlighted the history of the Centre, as well as its prospects and lines of activity.

“The Translation Centre came into existence in 1989. Since then we have only translated and published examples of World Literature. With AzTC’s new status, the scope of our activities has been extended. So, in addition to translations of literary works, we aim to manage all spaces of the translation field, through organizing and improving this process from the education stage,” she stressed. 

The British diplomat, in turn, touched upon the relations between Great Britain and Azerbaijan and said: “Friendly relations between our two countries are being consolidated by the day. I gained familiarity with the catalogue which also includes the translated works from British poetry and prose.  I am much pleased to see the huge list of works translated into Azerbaijani language, in particular the selection of translated works and world-renowned authors.“

Masud spoke about the literary works by British authors translated and published into Azerbaijani. She also underlined the plans to translate and publish works in 2015, as well as efforts towards actualizing the Azerbaijani literature and language internationally. “Not only familiarize we Azerbaijani readers with world literary opinion, but also seek propaganda of Azerbaijani literature, history, scientific and philosophical opinion across the world. One of such initiatives is to organize Azerbaijani language courses in educational institutions abroad.”    

Ambassador Siddig, in turn, underscored the issue of cooperation with AzTC. “Presently negotiations are underway to establish a separate department to teach Azerbaijani language and literature at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and we hope that AzTC will make its own contribution to the common cause,” Ambassador said.  “British Council Azerbaijan would be helpful in creating contacts with publishing houses and authors, as well as implementing your projects relating to education”. 

In conclusion, the British diplomat recognized that dealing with such an interesting and important field of activity – language and translations - was a very significant event and expressed hope for mutual and continuous cooperation in the fields of culture, literature and education.

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