On January 23, 2017, a jubilee birthday party was held at Khazar University to celebrate the 70th birthday of Natella Barkaya, Director of Multimedia Center; and the 60th birthday of Afag Karimova, Director of Carpet Museum. The party was attnded by university administrators and staff members.

The announcer of the event was Baba Bayramli, Director of the Center for Alumni Relations. He spoke about each of the honored staff members listed above, and then a slide show prepared by the Multimedia Center with photos of each of them was shown.

Professor Hamlet Isaxanli, the founder of Khazar University and Chairman of its Board of Directors and Trustees, made a speech in which he highly evaluated Natella Barkaya’s and Afag Karimova’s service. Other speeches were made by vice rectors Mohammad Nuriyev and Isaxan Isaxanli; Nailaxanim Isayeva, the co-founder of Dunya School and advisor to the Khazar University chairman of the Board of. Directors and Trustees; Vurgun Ayyub, Head of the Department of Azerbaijani Language and Literature; Lidiya Hamidova and Firangiz Nasirova, Senior Instructors of the Department of English Language and Literature; Lala Hamidova, instructor of the Department of English Language and Literature; Mir Rafig Abdulrahimov, university’s artist; Solmaz Rustamova-Tohidi, Senior Researcher of the Ziya Bunyadov Oriental Studies Institute of Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences. Lala Hamiodva also read a poem she dedicated to Natella Barkaya.

Natella Barkaya and Afag Karimova were given bouquets, congratulatory letters and gifts. They cut a birthday cake and thanked the university administration as well as all the participants in the party.

Mahsati Jabbarova, soloist for the State Philharmonic, performed musical numbers accompanied by Associate Professor Zulfiyya Sadigova, Head of the Department of Music and Fine Arts.