The Nizami Ganjavi International Center has regrettably informed its friends and partners that its Secretary-general, Rovshan Muradov, passed away unexpectedly in Istanbul, whilst preparing a new conference. This dire news has been overwhelming not only for me and my colleagues at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Levant Culture and Civilization, but also for all those who knew Rovshan and had the opportunity to work alongside him. His sudden passing, having not even reached his 40th birthday, is as cruel as it is unjust.
I met him 14 years ago, when he founded the “Nizami Ganjavi” International Center and launched the Baku International Forum, and we have since met annually at the Forum’s sessions, which bring together dozens of former and current heads of state and government, Nobel laureates, and hundreds of scholars from around the world, all sharing a commitment to promoting dialogue, understanding, learning, and tolerance, and to working to make them a reality.
Rovshan Muradov was a brilliant individual who was destined for a bright future. He studied at the Azerbaijan State University of Economics, earned a Masters in International Economic Relations, and was accepted into a doctoral programme at the same alma mater. As the founder of the University’s largest student organization, he was nominated to represent the Republic of Azerbaijan at the UN General Assembly as a youth delegate, and was the only delegate of his cohort to serve for a full four-year term. He studied at the University of Cambridge, the University of Stirling and the University of Tbilisi, and has published several books on the economic situation in the Caucasus and on cultural and historical perspectives on Azerbaijan.
During the pandemic, we worked together to organize a number of the conferences that would form the basis of the two-volume work, The Post-Pandemic World Between War and Peace, whose English edition was launched with Rovshan’s gracious support at the Global Baku Forum. In 2022, we jointly organized an emergency international conference on “Academic Solidarity with the Moral and Humanitarian Crisis Caused by the War in Ukraine” in Bucharest. I also worked closely with Rovshan in my capacity as a member of the International Advisory Committee for the 29th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 29), which was held in Baku in November 2024. On every occasion, I greatly valued Rovshan’s dedication and foresight.
The news of Rovshan’s passing has deeply saddened me. Considering how many more brilliant achievements I am certain he would have accomplished going forward, his passing is heartwrenching and unjust, and a tremendous loss for the “Nizami Ganjavi” International Center, just as it is a great loss for the Institute for Advanced Studies in Levant Culture and Civilization and to all of Rovshan’s international partners – as his name is also closely linked with the organization of numerous conferences in partnership with the World Academy of Art & Science, the Club of Rome, and the Club of Madrid that have played an important role in promoting cultural diplomacy and the edification of a culture of peace worldwide.
My condolences go out to his family and friends in this time of grief and hardship.
Emil Constantinescu
