Azerbaijan’s minister of culture meets with ISESCO director general

Baku, June 20, AZERTAC Azerbaijan’s Minister of Culture Abulfas Garayev has met with ISESCO Director General Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri, who is on a visit to Azerbaijan to attend the opening ceremony marking the launch of the celebration of Nakhchivan as the Islamic Culture Capital for 2018. Minister Abulfas Garayev highlighted the development of Azerbaijan-ISESCO cooperation in recent years. The minister also pointed out what has been done with regard to declaration of the city of Nakhchivan as the Islamic Culture Capital for 2018 by a decision adopted by the Baku-hosted 6th Conference of Culture Ministers of Member States of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) in October 2009. Minister Garayev hailed the importance of the event to Azerbaijan, describing Nakhchivan as a mesmerising city and a place rich with historical architectural monuments. They noted the fact that the solemn ceremony marking the launch of the celebration of Nakhchivan as the Islamic Culture Capital for 2018 will bring together a number of influential people, state and government officials, including TURKSOY Secretary General, culture ministers of Indonesia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Algeria, deputy culture ministers of Iran, United Arab Emirates, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Qatar, as well as officials from other countries. ISESCO Director General Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri praised Azerbaijan–ISESCO cooperation, and the exceptional role of the Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva in developing this relationship.