An international forum titled “The Spiritual Heritage and Cultural Expression of the Islamic World: Calligraphy, Music, Poetry and Solidarity” was held in Samarkand, the capital of Uzbekistan, marking the declaration of the city as the cultural capital of the Islamic World for 2025.
The Azerbaijani delegation led by Murad Huseynov, Deputy Minister of Culture, attended the forum.
Ozodbek Nazarbekov, Minister of Culture of Uzbekistan, Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director-General of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), as well as other officials, and media entities also joined the forum.
Addressing the event, the Uzbek Culture Minister highlighted great progress made by the country in thoroughly studying, preserving and developing the Islamic science and spiritual heritage.
The ICESCO Director-General pointed out Samarkand’s contributions to the Islamic science and cultural heritage, describing the declaration of the city as the cultural capital of Islamic World as a landmark occasion.
The Azerbaijani Deputy Culture Minister briefed the participants about the country’s efforts aimed at preserving cultural heritage. Murad Huseynov added that Samarkand occupies a special place in the history of Islam.
He also noted that Azerbaijan’s ancient city of Shusha had successfully completed its obligations as a cultural capital of Islamic World for 2024.
President of the Turkic Academy Shahin Mustafayev and President of the Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation Aktoty Raimkulova highlighted Samarkand’s crucial role in advancing the Islamic heritage.
Prior to Samarkand, Uzbekistan’s cities of Tashkent and Bukhara were named the cultural capitals of Islamic World for 2007 and 2020 respectively.