First Turkish-Azeri made movie touches on Karabakh problem

ANTALYA – Hürriyet Daily News

The Turkish-Azeri movie ‘Caucasus’ has been awarded at tha Caspian Forum. The movie’s director and leading man, Erhan Güleryüz (2 R) and lead actress Tuğçe Kazaz (2 L) are seen at a ceremony while receiving the award.

Turkey and Azerbaijan are building on their already-close cooperation on strategic ties by
exploring cultural and social dimensions with a new, full-length film, “Caucasus,” which focuses on the Nagorno-Karabakh problem.

The premiere of “Caucasus” took place at London’s famous Bafta Venue (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) on March 12 with the participation of Ünal Çeviköz and Fahrettin Kurbanov, Turkey and Azerbaijan’s respective ambassadors to London; its director and leading man, Erhan Güleryüz; lead actress Tuğçe Kazaz; Ceyhun Osmanlı, an Azeri lawmaker and co-producer of the film; representatives from the Hasen (Caspian Strategy Institute), sponsor of the film; as well as representatives from the Turkish and Azeri community residing in the United Kingdom.

Both Çeviköz and Kurbanov hailed the initiative and expressed their gratitude to the producers, sponsors of the movie and to those who had contributed to the project. “As I have worked in Azerbaijan in the past, I feel twice as excited for this film. I would like to congratulate Güleryüz for carrying out such a nice project.”

‘Strong bonds between Turkey and Azerbaijan’

Kurbanov also expressed his contentment with the initiative and underlined that the film proved the “strong bonds between Turkey and Azerbaijan,” repeating the well-known “one people, two states” slogan.

In his very first film, Güleryüz tells the story of Hazar Kafkas, a Karabakh-origin musician who fought against occupying Armenian troops in the early 1990s along the Azerbaijani army. After finding out that he has only three months to live due to a bullet wound he suffered during the Karabakh War, Kafkas returns to his homeland where he falls in love with a school teacher (Tuğçe Kazaz). Flashbacks of Kafkas show the ugly face of the Karabakh War that claimed the lives of thousands of people and that caused the displacement of more than a million Azeris. The region is still under Armenia’s occupation despite two-decade-old efforts for a settlement between the two countries.

“This is my first cinema project and the Caucasus will meet the audience here for the first time. That’s why I am very excited about it and it boosts my excitement that this premier is taking place at Bafta, a theater that really matters for global

cinema,” Güleryüz said. Güleryüz is a well-known musician and the founder of the successful band Ayna.

“I would like to thank to my very precious friends who acted in the movie; Tuğce Kazaz, Hasan Kaçan and Koray Mincinozlu and the rest of the team. We shot this movie having a great time altogether.” Kazaz was also very excited, as this was her first film as well.

The film’s main sponsor is the Istanbul-based Hasen, a think tank mainly focused on the
Caspian region and its surrounding area.

Haldun Yavaş, the secretary-general of Hasen, said the film was the first of its kind for
various aspects. “This is such a project that we participated in for the first time. We will keep supporting these kinds of art projects that tell the dynamics of the region.”

The movie will be screened in Berlin on March 31 before coming to Turkish theaters shortly thereafter.