Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

Azerbaijan's city of Sheki has launched the preparatory activities over its declaration as the Cultural Capital of the Turkic World in 2016.

A press conference held on the occasion was attended by TURKSOY Secretary General Dusen Kaseinov, the city top executives, employees of the Azerbaijan Culture and Tourism Ministry, city public and media representatives.

Head of the Sheki City Executive Power Elkhan Usubov said that selection of Sheki as a cultural center of Turkic world is not accidental, since the city has picturesque nature, unique historical monuments, and developed art.

He reminded that Sheki has become the region with one of the highly developed tourism in the country.

For centuries this ancient city has long been a famous silk center and an important stop on the Great Silk Route.

Caravanserais, mosques, minarets, houses, walls, bridges and architecture talk about the antiquity of Sheki.

TURKSOY Secretary General Dusen Kaseinov, in turn, said that TURKSOY, which is considered UNESCO of Turkic world has been operating for more than 20 years in order to create friendship and fraternal relations between the Turkish nations, as well as to deliver the common Turkic culture to the future generation.

TURKSOY’s one of the successful projects is the selection of Turkic world capital that has been started since 2012.

Sheki located 380 km of the west of Baku is set in a picturesque mountain area rich in narrow gorges and green valleys, springs, purest rivers, water falls and mineral water springs framed by dense woods and alpine meadows.

The city is a real natural wonder with its beautiful landscapes, mineral water springs, forests and rivers.

Beautiful Sheki can also be called the architectural reserve of the country, since the city has 84 historical and cultural monuments. Archaeological findings suggest that the city might be one of the oldest settlements in the Caucasus. Pieces dating 2,500 years were unearthed here.

Modern Sheki was actually rebuilt in 1772 after the city was destroyed by mud streams - River Kish. Annually, Sheki becomes a place for international and local festivals which attract many people.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

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