An online round table dedicated to the International Mother Language Day was held on February 19 at Sumgayit State University on "Let"s love and protect our mother tongue" at the initiative and organization of the Department of Azerbaijani Language and its Teaching Methods at the Faculty of Philology.

The event was attended by professors, masters, phd students and dissertators of the Faculty of Philology of SSU such as: deputy chairman of the Terminology Commission under the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan, head of the Terminology Department of the Institute of Linguistics named after I.Nasimi of ANAS prof. Sayali Sadigov, director of the Monitoring Center under the State Language Commission of the Republic of Azerbaijan prof. Sevinj Aliyeva, professor of the Department of Television and Radio Journalism, Faculty of Journalism, Baku State University, Editor-in-Chief of Azleks.az electronic dictionaries collection prof. Gulu Maharramli.

First, a video of Bakhtiyar Vahabzadeh"s poems "Ana Dilim" was shown . Opening the event, SSU Vice-Rector for Science and Innovations, professor Ramazan Mammadov, conveyed the greetings of the University Rector, professor Elkhan Huseynov to the participants and guests, and spoke about the importance of February 21 - International Mother Language Day, the importance of preserving literary language norms. He noted that since February 21, 2000, the world has celebrated International Mother Language Day. The purpose of this day is to protect the linguistic and cultural diversity of the peoples of the world, the endangered languages. International Mother Language Day reminds everyone that they have the right to feel the existence of their native language, to be proud of it, to protect and develop it. The mother tongue is of exceptional importance in the enrichment of a person"s spiritual world, in the expansion of his worldview, in his perfect education, and in his communication with his compatriots. Everyone should know their native language well and protect its purity. The vice-rector also noted that, as in many countries this significant day is celebrated in our country. It is gratifying that issues such as caring for, protecting and promoting our language, the comprehensive development of the native language in our country, finding a way to the system of international relations are the result of the well-thought-out policy of the great leader Heydar Aliyev. During the first period of the Great Leader"s leadership in Azerbaijan, great work was done for the development of the press, culture, science and education in the Azerbaijani language, and the socio-political and cultural position of the state language was raised. The definition of the language policy of the independent Azerbaijani state is also connected with the name of the Great Leader. Back in the Soviet era, National Leader Heydar Aliyev carried out historical work to protect and develop our native language and ensure the status of the Azerbaijani language as the state language. It was as a result of the care and attention of the Great Leader that the Azerbaijani language became official in our country at that time. This issue is also enshrined in a special article in the constitution. The inclusion and establishment of the Azerbaijani language as the state language in the 1978 Constitution of the Azerbaijan SSR was an event of national importance for that period. The vice-rector also stressed that in general, the work done by National Leader Heydar Aliyev on his love for his native language, its protection and enrichment is a major exception in our history and is an eternal example for each of our compatriots. The great leader proudly said: “I speak Azerbaijani everywhere. Let the translators translate what I say into other languages. I would like the Azerbaijani youth to read Shakespeare in English, Pushkin in Russian, Nizami, Fuzuli and Nasimi in Azerbaijani. People who do not know their mother tongue are disabled! ” President Ilham Aliyev repeatedly noted that our native language and literature are key factors in preserving our national characteristics: "It is our language, literature, history and traditions that maintain us as a nation." In various speeches, conversations with people, meetings in the regions, the head of the state always speaks about the greatness of them , especially the attributes of the state, the Azerbaijani language, alphabet, culture, art, national traditions.

They spoke at the event;such as prof. Ramazan Mammadov "Azerbaijani language is the state language", prof. Sayali Sadigov "Azerbaijani language is our national and spiritual wealth", prof. Sevinj Aliyeva "Expansion of the prestige of the Azerbaijani language in the international arena", prof. Gulu Maharramli "Problems of compliance with the norms of the Azerbaijani language in Internet media and television and radio programs." They spoke about the historical services of national leader Heydar Aliyev in raising the Azerbaijani language to the level of the state language. They noted that currently the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Mr. Ilham Aliyev, successfully continues these traditions. “On the implementation of mass publications in Latin script in the Azerbaijani language”, “On the publication of the Azerbaijan National Encyclopedia”, “On approval of the State Program on the use of the Azerbaijani language in accordance with modern requirements and development of linguistics in the country”, “State Language Commission of the Republic of Azerbaijan decrees "On approval of the new composition", "On a number of measures to ensure the wider use of the Azerbaijani language in electronic space", "On measures to protect the purity of the Azerbaijani language and further improve the use of the state language" and the work done in this direction is a manifestation of great care for development. The guests also spoke about the purity of the Azerbaijani language and its protection, emphasizing that the state has a successful language policy. They appreciated the importance of the Decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev dated November 1, 2018 "On measures to protect the purity of the Azerbaijani language and further improve the use of the state language" for our language. They noted that maintaining the purity of our native language and deep learning it is a civic duty of every Azerbaijani youth.

At the event, the scientists answered questions related to the topic in detail and thanked the leadership and faculty of SSU for organizing the event.