OFFICIAL CLOSING CEREMONY OF YEAR OF CULTURE “BAKU – CAPITAL OF ISLAMIC CULTURE – 2009” HELD

Baku, 19 December (AzerTAc). Yesterday in the Heydar Aliyev Palace of Baku took place the official closing ceremony of the Year of Culture “Baku – capital of Islamic culture – 2009”.
The ceremony was attended by the head of Presidential Administration of Azerbaijan, academician Ramiz Mehdiyev, Vice-premier Elchin Efendiyev, MPs, ministers, heads of the state committees, men of science, literature and culture.
The minister of culture and tourism of Azerbaijan Abulfaz Garayev underlined that the city-candidate on capital of Islamic culture should possess rich history at level of the region and the country, to bring special contribution to development of science, art and literature, and differ with its specific relation both to Islamic and world culture as a whole. Besides, the city applying for election as capital of Islamic culture, should have centers of science, libraries of manuscripts, structures of archaeological education, institutes, organizing both individual and mass cultural actions. The capital of Azerbaijan – Baku, thanks to the antiquity and its present, answers all these norms and principles and was declared as the next capital of Islamic culture.
Garayev said that “we have achieved such high rank of our capital thanks to attention and care which show about the science, education and culture President Ilham Aliyev and the president of Heydar Aliyev Foundation, UNESCO and ISESCO Goodwill Ambassador, MP Mehriban Aliyeva.
Attending the event, ISESCO Deputy General Director Hadi Azizzade spoke of the actions taken place on the sidelines of the Year of Culture “Baku – capital of Islamic culture – 2009”. “These actions have been organized at high level and have been duly estimated by ISESCO. All the Islamic countries actively participated in these actions.”