According to the ANT XA Telegram Channel, one of the pioneers of Azerbaijani ashug music in Sulduz, ashug Mahammadali Mahmudi, told ILNA XA about the difficult conditions he and those involved in this music were exposed to:
“The state does not recognize any rights for Azerbaijani ashugs.”
Ashig Mahmudi said in response to an ILNA journalist’s statement that the government treats these musicians and pioneers after the age of 60 and provides them with salaries, insurance, holiday pay and other services:
“None of these words are true, but they are words and slogans. . I know all the craftsmen and pioneers of Western Azerbaijan and I know them all very well, that’s why I say that the state does not recognize any rights and does not pay them anything.
At the end of his speech, Ashug Mahmudi said:
“Now I am sick and no one asks me, we have not been intimidated and we have to spend money from our own pockets for treatment, but we have no other source of income except music, and the situation of music is very dire.”
