En: National Grand Lodge of Azerbaijan

National Grand Lodge of Azerbaijan

Source: National Grand Lodge of Azerbaijan website

Mission

… to teach and perpetuate a way of life that promotes the Brotherhood of Man under the Fatherhood of God and to assist Lodges to grow and prosper.

Vision

… to be the premier organization composed of men of integrity and character, who are honest, true to their word, believe in God, are devoted to family, charitable in their community, and courteous and helpful to each other

Organization

Following the establishment of Turkish speaking lodge NUR 2000,in Washington in the year 2000, it was decided to use this lodge as a base to develop the ground work for creating Freemasonry in the Republic of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan was part of the old Soviet Union and following the collapse of Soviet Union , it became an independent Republic. Azerbaijan is located in the caucasus and is a Turkish speaking (Azeri) European country.

The project to establish freemasonry in Azerbaijan started with the creation of Azerbaijan Lodge No.2001 in Washington DC. The following year, The Grand Lodge of Washington DC invited the Grand Lodge of Russia to join this project and in 2002, they created the lodge Drugba (friendship) No. 24 in Moscow. In 2003, as a result of very close relationship with the Grand Lodge of Turkey through NUR Lodge 2000 , the Grand Lodge of Washington DC, decided to invite the Grand Lodge of Turkey to join this project, and Khazar Lodge no. 1000 was chartered by MWB Demir Savascin in Istanbul.

Most of the preparatory work was done by Azerbaijan Lodge during the years 2001 to 2008, and through many visits to Baku and meeting with authorities there and explaining the merits of Freemasonry, finally in 2008, positive signal was given for the go ahead. Following this development, the Grand Lodge of Washington DC created Baku Lodge No. 2008 to work locally in Baku and organize the preparation for the creation of the Grand Lodge. It should be mentioned that the Grand Lodge of Russia was of great help and support in all of our efforts to take this difficult project forward.

On December 5, 2008, a joint meeting of the Grand Masters and Grand secretaries of Grand Lodge of Washington DC, The Grand Lodge of Russia and the Grand Lodge of Turkey , and MWB Robert B Heyat, the founder of the project was convened in Paris during the annual communications of Grande Loge Nationale Francaise for the specific purpose of chartering the new National Grand Lodge of Azerbaijan.

At the completion of the meeting the charter was signed and issued and it was agreed to have the consecration in the following week on December 9 in Baku, Azerbaijan. On December 9, the organizational meeting of the National Grand Lodge of Azerbaijan was convened in Baku and MWB Robert B Heyat was installed as the first Grand Master by the Grand Masters of Russia and Washington DC. Following his installation, MWB Robert B Heyat installed his Grand Lodge officers. The next day on December 10, in the second meeting of the National Grand Lodge of Azerbaijan, new charters were issued to the founding lodges and their Worshipful Masters and officers were installed by the Grand Master.

Lodges

Dated August 2016

• Azerbaijan Lodge No.1 (with 44 members)
• Drugba Lodge No. 2 (with 15 members)
• Khazar Lodge No. 3 (with 11 members)
• Baku Lodge No. 4 (with 32 members)

Many new candidates have been interviewed and approved by the lodges, and some of them have already been initiated. There also a large list of prospective candidates to be considered. Due to the sensitive political situation in Azerbaijan, the candidates are selected in a very careful way and after a number of interviews and long waiting time.

Links

• National Grand Lodge of Azerbaijan http://nglaz.org/#home