ASIA AND AFRICA TODAY MAGAZINE IS PUBLISHED IN ARABIC

D. I. VINITSKY

Our sobkor in Egypt

Keywords: Russia, Egypt, publishing, cooperation, "Asia and Africa today"

The publication of our magazine "Asia and Africa Today" in Arabic has started in Egypt. The first issue of Asiya wa Ifriqiya al-yaum was published in Cairo by Dar Anba Rusia publishing house at the end of September last year.

It is no exaggeration to say that the successful implementation of plans or projects that open up broad prospects for development and partnership is an important goal that a person, company, or country strives for.

In this effort, the priority component is the intention to expand the horizons of interaction and mutual understanding, enrich yourself with new knowledge, familiarize others with your innovations, views on the state and development of society, peoples, their cultures and traditions, and simply tell them about yourself. And if new horizons of international cooperation open up for an information project, the significance of this event increases for its creators many times over.

Such an event, the significance of which for us is difficult to overestimate, was the beginning of the publication of the Arabic version of the magazine.

The idea of its release has been hatched for a long time. It was initiated back in 2013 by the Egyptian entrepreneur and well-known public figure Hussein el-Shafi and the editor-in-chief of the Asia and Africa Today magazine, Academician Alexey Vasiliev. The publication was preceded by painstaking work on the selection of articles previously published in the Russian edition and their translation into Arabic. This was led by Mohammed Nasr Al-Gibali, a professor at the Faculty of Foreign Languages at Ain Shams University in Cairo. The Arabic version retains virtually all the technical parameters of the Russian edition, which makes it easily recognizable.

On October 29 last year, the Russian Center for Science and Culture in Cairo hosted the presentation ceremony of the magazine "Asiya wa Ifriqiya al-yaum". Representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Egypt, socio-political and journalistic circles, members of the Egyptian Association of Graduates of Soviet and Russian Universities were invited to attend.

In his welcoming speech, the director of Dar Anba Rusia Publishing house, Hussein el-Shafi, noted how much attention Russia pays to the rapidly developing countries of Asia, events in the Middle East region, which is rapidly changing after the "Arab Spring", as well as the problems facing the African continent. He stressed that Russia shows not only political and economic, but also scientific and practical interest in the countries of the vast region, studying them and considering them as partners, including in the social, humanitarian and cultural spheres.

It is this opportunity to develop social and cultural cooperation that has formed the basis of the OS-

El Shafi added that when choosing scientific and analytical articles to be translated into Arabic, priority is certainly given to topics that affect the interests of the Arab world. This, he added, is related to the frequency of the release of the Arabic version. "For now, we intend to publish it twice a year," he said. "However, we hope to launch a quarterly issue of the magazine in less than a year."

M. Nasr al-Gibali, Editor - in-chief of Asiya wa Ifriqiya al-yaum, supported this intention: "Ideally, we want the magazine to become a monthly publication. It won't work right away, of course, but we will strive for it. In addition, we plan to increase the volume of the magazine, " he said. - In the first issue, we published 8 articles, and in the second issue we plan to publish 12. One of the important areas of this work is the publication of materials prepared by Egyptian authors. Naturally, this will be done in coordination with the Moscow editorial board."

Among the main thematic areas are politics, economics and culture. "Of course, the main focus will be on articles that help bring the Russian and Arab peoples closer together, strengthen mutual understanding, and simply get acquainted with various aspects of the peoples' lives and their cultures, " Gibali continued.

"It is important that we attract a large number of translators. We give them the opportunity to better understand the culture, mentality, political goals and economic objectives of modern Russia. Six Russian teachers from Egypt and Saudi Arabia participated in the preparation of the first issue. We plan to attract Russian language experts from other Arab countries as well," concluded the editor - in-chief of the Cairo edition.

The publication of the Arabic version of our magazine found a wide response in the Egyptian and regional media. The first issue of "Asiya wa Ifriqiya al-yaum" was not ignored by Saudi and Lebanese information and news sites. A great deal of material was published in the influential Egyptian publication Roza Al-Yousef¹. In the article "Celebrating the publication of the Arabic version of the magazine "Asia and Africa Today", the author of the article Khaled Bayoumi quotes H. al-Shafi as saying that the magazine will contain analytical articles and scientific materials about Russia and Arab countries that are of interest to the Arab reader and open the door for Egyptian and Arab authors who are interested in they seek to enrich the bilateral cultural dialogue.

The Egyptian journalist further points out that the journal" Asia and Africa Today " is one of the most prestigious scientific publications in Russia. In 2017, the magazine will celebrate its 60th anniversary. It was not by chance that his birth coincided with the deployment of liberation movements in Asia and Africa, the collapse of the colonial system, and the achievement of political and economic independence by dozens of countries in the region. The author points out that Egypt occupies one of the main places in the materials of the Arabic version, while noting that the editor-in-chief of the Moscow edition Alexey Vasiliev (future academician) worked in Egypt for many years and repeatedly visited it as part of his scientific and political activities.²

The article quotes one of the prominent public and political figures of Egypt, Helmi Hadidi, a former Minister of Health of Egypt, who now heads the Egyptian Organization of Solidarity of the Peoples of Asia and Africa. Khadidi recalled the depth of Russian-Egyptian relations during the time of Gamal Abdel Nasser, the sluggishness during the reign of Anwar Sadat and the difficult stage under President Hosni Mubarak. "However, with the arrival of the new Egyptian leadership (in the person of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. - editor's note) bilateral relations are experiencing the restoration of ties and cooperation, - said X. Hadidi. "And the Asia and Africa Today magazine is a window into the space of Asian and African cultures."

¹ Ihtifalia bimunasabati Sudur al-tab'ah al-Arabiya limajal "Asiya wa Ifriqiya al-yaum" ("Celebration on the occasion of the publication of the Arabic version of the magazine "Asia and Africa Today") / / Sahifatu Roza Al-Yousef-http://www.rosaeveryday.com/news/127343/

² See, for example, his book: Vasiliev A.M. Egypt and the Egyptians (in Russian). and Arabic). (Vasiliev A.M. 1986, 2000, 2008. Egipet i egiptyane. M.) (in Russian). The book was published in Russian in 1986, the 2nd edition - in 2000. The 3rd edition (2008) is supplemented with impressions of new trips to the banks of the Nile and tells about changes in Egypt and in the life of Egyptians over the past 30 years (editor's note).

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