(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 13. On May 12, the
official opening ceremony of the "Year of Shusha – the cultural
capital of the Turkic World – 2023" was held in the Azerbaijani
city of Shusha with the joint organizational support of the
Ministry of Culture and TURKSOY, trend reports.
The event, organized in accordance with the decree of the
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev dated December
6, 2022 on measures related to the declaration of the city of
Shusha as the "Cultural Capital of the Turkic world" for 2023, was
attended by representatives of the state, delegations of member
countries of the International Organization of Turkic Culture
(TURKSOY), heads of Turkic cooperation organizations and
others.
First, the guests got acquainted with the "Cooking and Crafts"
corner, organized in front of the GARABAG SPA & RESORT hotel.
Speaking at the event, Azerbaijani Minister of Culture Adil
Karimli said that this year is full of important historical events
for Azerbaijan and the Turkic world.
The minister noted that the 100th anniversary of the founder of
independent Azerbaijan, the national leader of the Azerbaijani
people, and one of the irreplaceable leaders of the Turkic world,
Heydar Aliyev, is celebrated with great solemnity, and in this
regard, 2023 has been declared the "Year of Heydar Aliyev" in
Azerbaijan.
The city of Shusha, which is the cultural capital of Azerbaijan,
was chosen as the "Cultural Capital of the Turkic World" for this
year, and the 100th anniversary of Türkiye and the 30th anniversary
of the creation of TURKSOY are being celebrated with great
solemnity in the Turkic world.
The minister highlighted that Shusha and the whole of Karabakh
are experiencing a period of revival. Despite the short period of
time that has passed since Victory Day was celebrated on November
8, intensive work is being carried out under the direct leadership
of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev on the
comprehensive restoration and reconstruction of the cities,
villages, historical and cultural monuments, destroyed forests and
the entire residential infrastructure. The historical and cultural
image of the city of Shusha is being restored, cultural life is
being revived in Shusha.
Karimli also noted that the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, headed by
the First Vice President of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva, conducts
various local and international cultural events in Shusha,
large-scale work to restore the country's cultural heritage.
According to him, the First Turkic World Cultural Forum is
expected to be held in Shusha within the framework of the Permanent
Council of Ministers of Culture scheduled for October.
"Shusha has entered history with a number of innovations in our
culture and classical music. I am sure that the Forum, which will
be held in the city of Shusha, will open new horizons in the
development of cultural ties for the transformation of the 21st
century into the Turkic century and will become one of our
strongest common platforms."
Special Representative of the President of Azerbaijan in the
Shusha district, Aydin Karimov, said that he was glad to see
everyone in the fortress city.
"I welcome each of you in the year of the "Cultural Capital of
the Turkic World". This year is full of significant events for
Azerbaijan and the Turkic world. The 100th anniversary of the birth
of great leader Heydar Aliyev is being solemnly celebrated in our
country. The year 2023 has been declared the "Year of Heydar
Aliyev" in Azerbaijan. In this context, a large number of events
have been held in the city of Shusha, as well as in other parts of
our country," he said.
Karimov said that the announcement of the city of Shusha as the
cultural capital is an expression of the great respect of the
Turkic world for this city.
"Shusha is of great importance not only for Azerbaijan but also
for the entire Turkic world. This event is another confirmation of
this. From now on, many bright and memorable events will be held in
our Shusha," he added.
Speaking at the event, Secretary General of TURKSOY Sultan Raev
said that these lands are the cradle of art and music and the
birthplace of Khurshidbanu Natavan (poet), Najaf bey Vazirov
(playwright), Uzeyir Hajibeyov (composer) and many other luminaries
of art.
"Since Shusha has been declared the "Cultural Capital of the
Turkic world," we are waiting for rich and memorable programs in
this city, which looks very much like the atmosphere of Victory,
joy and rebirth,” he said.
After the city of Shusha was declared the cultural capital, a
joint action plan was prepared with the Ministry of Culture of
Azerbaijan in accordance with the Action Plan of the Cabinet of
Ministers.
Raev said that the opening of the Korkut Ata Turkic World Film
Festival will be held in Shusha, saying that the closing ceremony
of the current event is scheduled for November.
"At the closing ceremony, the relay of the "Cultural Capital of
the Turkic World" in 2024 will be handed over to the city of Anau
in Turkmenistan," he added.
Secretary General TURKSOY noted that the planned program in
Shusha will be more memorable than the events held so far within
the framework of the "Cultural Capital of the Turkic World"
project.
"This magnificent city is a spiritual center, a source of pride
not only for Azerbaijan but also for the entire Turkic world. In my
opinion, Shusha is the heart of Azerbaijan. This year also marks
the 30th anniversary of TURKSOY. We intend to use this opportunity
to present this historic city, which was occupied for as many years
as the TURKSOY organization exists, and destroyed by barbarians,
and is now free as the cradle of culture, art and music for both
the Turkic world and the whole world," the secretary-general
added.
Congratulating all the participants on the announcement of the
city of Shusha as the cultural capital, Secretary General of
TURKSOY Kubanychbek Omuraliyev said that as a result of the
independent, consistent and resolute policy pursued in recent
years, Azerbaijan has strengthened its authority among the
countries of the world and has become one of the leading states in
the region.
He emphasized that the liberation of Azerbaijani lands from
Armenian occupation as a result of the 44-day Patriotic War (Second
Karabakh War) not only became a source of pride for Azerbaijan, the
Turkic states and peoples in general, but also gave impetus to the
further strengthening of Turkic unity.
Omuraliev expressed confidence that interesting events will be
held in Shusha and called on creative figures from all
Turkic-speaking countries to take an active part in them.
Saying that Shusha is the crown of Azerbaijan, the People's
Artist of Azerbaijan Polad Bulbuloglu called the fortress city the
singing heart of Azerbaijan.
Stressing the importance of the Khari Bulbul International
Musical Festival, organized these days in Shusha, Bulbuloglu noted
that this music festival united and brought together fraternal
Turkic peoples.
Speaking about the historical path traversed by TURKSOY over the
past 30 years, Bulbuloglu highlighted the support provided by great
leader Heydar Aliyev to the development of this organization.
Highly appreciating the work done by the organization to
preserve and popularize the cultural heritage of the Turkic people,
he congratulated everyone on the opening of the ceremony
At the event, Secretary General of TURKSOY Sultan Raev on behalf
of the organization presented memorable gifts to Adil Karimli,
Aydin Karimov, Polad Bulbuloglu and Kubanychbek Omuraliev.
People's Writer, Chairperson of the Azerbaijan Writers Union
Anar Rzayev said that TURKSOY is one of the organizations playing
the greatest role in the rapprochement and cultural unification of
the Turkic peoples, and said that the Union of Writers of
Azerbaijan has established a diploma named after the outstanding
Azerbaijani poet Bakhtiyar Vahabzadeh.
This diploma is awarded to those who contribute to the
strengthening of brotherhood and relations between the Turkic
peoples. Anar, by the decision of the union, presented the award to
Raev.
Then the guests were presented with a concert program, in which
musical and folklore ensembles from the countries of the Turkic
world took part.
On March 31, 2022, in the city of Bursa of Türkiye, by the
decision of the Permanent Council of Ministers of Culture of the
TURKSOY member countries, the city of Shusha, the ancient cradle of
mugham art, was declared the "Cultural Capital of the Turkic World"
for 2023.
The foundation of the "Cultural Capital of the Turkic World"
project was laid in 2010 at the 10th Summit of the Heads of the
Turkic Speaking States, held in Türkiye's Istanbul.
According to their common decision, every year one city of the
Turkic world is declared as the "cultural capital".
Over the years, the cities of Astana (2012, Kazakhstan),
Eskişehir (2013, Türkiye), Kazan (2014, Tatarstan – Russia), Merv
(2015, Turkmenistan), Shaki (2016, Azerbaijan), Turkestan (2017,
Kazakhstan), Kastamonu (2018, Turkey), Osh (2019, Kyrgyzstan),
Khiva (2020, Uzbekistan) and Bursa (2022, Türkiye) have been
declared the "cultural capital of the Turkic world".
Azerbaijan's Shusha is the 11th city of the Turkic world, which
became the capital of the year of the Turkic world.
