Armenian PM’s Wife Invites Azerbaijan’s First Lady to Artsakh to Listen to “Mugham”

YEREVAN — The Armenian prime minister’s wife on Wednesday announced her intention to invite Azerbaijan’s first lady to Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh), responding to her recent social media post expressing a desire to enjoy Azerbaijani folk music “Mugham” (a musical genre that weds orally transmitted music with classical written poetry).

“I want to invite Mehriban Aliyeva to Karabakh. She can be our guest. We know how to honor a guest: one of the rules of hospitality is to honor one with music, we can fulfill her dream and ensure that she listens to her beloved mugham in Karabakh,” she said, addressing the United Nations Security Council conference on Women, Peace and Security in Yerevan on Wednesday.

The PM’s wife added she is ready to pay a visit to Azerbaijan if Aliyeva accepts her invitation.

“However, if Mehriban Aliyeva means that their dream is to come to Karabakh and listen to mugham through war, I assure you that this dream will remain unfulfilled,” Hakobyan stressed. “Moreover, if they start a new war, there will appear new settlements where listening to mugham will become an unfulfilled dream for them.”

Aliyeva, who currently holds the post of Azerbaijan’s deputy president, said in her public post that it is “our sole desire listen to the Karabakh shikaste (migham) on the soil of Karabakh”.