Azernews.Az

By Nazrin Gadimova

The International Organization of Turkic Culture (TURKSOY) has awarded a number of Azerbaijani prominent cultural, art, and mass media figures for their contribution to the promotion of The Turkic cultural heritage and strengthening cooperation among the Turkic-speaking countries.

The awarding ceremony was held at Azerbaijan's Mirza Fatali Akhundzade National Library on January 10 on the occasion of the 20th Anniversary Medal of TURKSOY.

Addressing the event, TURKSOY Secretary General Dusen Kaseinov praised Azerbaijan's activity in the organization, adding that participation of TURKSOY in all events, which were held in Baku, as well as in international forums under the leadership of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, has had a positive impact on cooperation among the member countries.

Kaseinov also hailed gala celebrations on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the organization, which were held in a number of countries, including Azerbaijan, and noted high level organization of the 3rd Summit of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-Speaking States (CCTS) which took place in Azerbaijan's Gabala city on August 16, 2013.

Then Kaseinov handed over the 20th Anniversary Medal of TURKSOY to Deputy Culture and Tourism Minister Adalat Valiyev, Principal of the Baku Music Academy, People's Artist of Azerbaijan Farkhad Badalbayli, Director General of Azerbaijan State Telegraph Agency Aslan Aslanov, outstanding researcher and journalist Ramiz Asgar, Head of Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre Akif Malikov, Head of the Azerbaijan State Museum of Musical Culture Alla Bayramova, Principal of Azerbaijani National Conservatory Siyavush Karimi, as well as singers Azerin and Azer Zeynalov.

Deputy Minister Adalat Valiyev, addressing the event, thanked TURKSOY on behalf of the awarded figures and noted the importance of promoting Azerbaijan's culture within TURKSOY.

TURKSOY is an international cultural organization of countries with Turkic populations, whose speaking languages belong to the Turkic language family.

The organization has its roots going back to the 1992 meetings in Baku and Istanbul, where the ministers of culture from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkey, and Turkmenistan declared their commitment to cooperate in a joint cultural framework. TURKSOY was subsequently established by an agreement signed on July 12, 1993 in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Meetings of TURKSOY artists have been held since 1997. Works created by the artists are stored in the TURKSOY art collection.