On April 28, the Permanent Representation of Azerbaijan to UNESCO held an event in connection with the 40th anniversary of the Azerbaijan-UNESCO partnership and the 100th anniversary of Great Leader Heydar Aliyev at the UNESCO headquarters, APA reports.
The event started with a conference on "Azerbaijan-UNESCO: 40 years of partnership" with the support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the National Commission for UNESCO.
Ambassador Elman Abdullayev, Permanent Representative of Azerbaijan to UNESCO, delivered an opening speech at the conference.
E.Abdullayev noted that the UNESCO International Seminar on Oriental Carpet Art (Seminaire international sur l'art du tapis d'Orient) held in Baku in 1983 played an important role in the establishment of relations between UNESCO and Azerbaijan and in the international recognition of our country. He especially emphasized the role of Great Leader Heydar Aliyev in the organization of that seminar.
The ambassador said that great leader Heydar Aliyev's foresight, diplomatic skills and patriotism made it possible to promote the culture of the Azerbaijani people at the world level even during the Soviet Union, which deserves praise.
Then E.Abdullayev gave information about the "Baku Process" initiated by President Ilham Aliyev and its importance. The diplomat also informed the guests that the 100th anniversary of Zarifa Aliyeva was celebrated on April 28.
Then Ambassador Hasan Hasanov, former Prime Minister of Azerbaijan, former Minister of Foreign Affairs and the first chairman of our National Commission on UNESCO, Koichiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO from 1999 to 2009 (via video conference), UNESCO Executive Board Chairperson Tamara Rastovac Siamashvili (video conference), Genc Seiti, head of UNESCO's Foreign Relations Department, Vafa Mustafayev, former head of the organization's Asia Department, representative of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Fidan Yusibova addressed the event.
During his speech, Ambassador Hasan Hasanov said that Heydar Aliyev played an important role not only in the destiny of the Azerbaijani people, but also in his professional activities, and emphasized that the Azerbaijani people are proud of geniuses like the Great Leader. He said that the holding of the first International Seminar on Oriental Carpet Art in Baku in 1983 and the participation of the former Director General of UNESCO Mbo in that seminar opened the door to the international arena for our country. It was said that at that event Heydar Aliyev presented A. Mboy with a "Memar Ajami" carpet, hand-made by carpet weaver and scientist Latif Karimov.
H. Hasanov thanked Mari Ami Mboya, who was among the guests, on behalf of our people for the support shown to Azerbaijan by her father.
In the end, the diplomat said that despite the double standards applied by some international organizations and the pressure of lobby organizations, as a result of the successful foreign policy implemented by President Ilham Aliyev, we have achieved the liberation of our historical lands from occupation.
In his speech, K. Matsuro said that in order to promote the values of UNESCO, various projects are implemented by Azerbaijan, and our country hosts various international events. He spoke about his visits to Azerbaijan and his personal memories during the time when he headed the organization, and noted that the International Mugham Festival, our national dances and Gobustan are forever etched in his memory. K. Matsuura emphasized the high appreciation of the care and attention shown by the leadership of Azerbaijan, especially President Ilham Aliyev and First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva, to UNESCO, as well as to culture.
Then Ambassador E.Abdullayev read the congratulatory letter of Irina Bokova, who served as the Director General of UNESCO in 2009-2017, to the participants. In her letter to I. Bokova, she shared her memories about the International Forum on Intercultural Dialogue, which she participated in together with President Ilham Aliyev, the special care that First Vice President Mehriban Aliyeva showed to the education of girls during her time as a goodwill ambassador of UNESCO, and the Framework Agreement signed between Azerbaijan and UNESCO. The former general director spoke about the importance of dozens of projects implemented by Azerbaijan in the fields of culture and heritage, protection of biodiversity, education, sports, and intercultural dialogue. She noted that she is sure that the Azerbaijan-UNESCO partnership creates potential for the implementation of the organization's mandate.
In his speech, Chairperson of UNESCO Executive Council T. Rastovac Siamashvili noted that Azerbaijan-UNESCO relations have a dynamic character, and countless projects are implemented by our country within the organization's mandate.
Genc Seiti, head of UNESCO's Foreign Relations Department, said that he visited Azerbaijan in 1995 within the framework of the joint project of UNDP and UNESCO in the field of education, he got to know our culture and had good memories of our country. He said that there is rich cooperation between the organization and our country, that our country is one of the most active member states. He noted that Azerbaijan has always supported the global priorities of the organization – projects related to gender equality and Africa, promoted intercultural dialogue through the projects “Baku process” and UNESCO's intercultural electronic platform, actively participated in the restoration of the UNESCO Silk Roads Program, will host the 7th conference of International Conference of Ministers and Senior Officials Responsible for Physical Education and Sport (MINEPS IV) in June of this year and supports the Global Education Coalition.
Vafa Mustafayev, a native of Azerbaijan, who has been working at UNESCO since 1983, gave information about the projects and works carried out in the field of culture of our country before and after independence. According to him, one of the important events in the history of UNESCO-Azerbaijan relations was the inclusion of "Icherisheher", Maiden's Castle and the Shirvanshahs Palace Complex on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2000.
Ambassador E.Abdullayev thanked V.Mustafayev for always being loyal to our country and the interests of our people, and for preserving our national identity.
Later, the representative of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, Fidan Yusibova, informed about the activities of the Foundation and noted that the restoration of historical monuments, including synagogues, churches and mosques, was carried out by the Foundation in various countries as proof of multicultural values in our country. F. Yusibova said that the projects implemented by the Foundation under the leadership of First Vice President of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva cover science, education, culture, art, youth and other fields. She pointed out that the Foundation is named after National Leader Heydar Aliyev and continues to promote the legacy of the Great Leader to the whole world.
Note that Marie Ami Mbo, the daughter of Amadu-Mahtar Mbo, who worked as the Director General of UNESCO from 1974 to 1987, attended the conference as an honored guest.
At the end of the conference, a video presentation on the history of bilateral cooperation was held.
In the photo exhibition organized at the headquarters of the organization, the historical photos taken during the official visits of the country's leadership to UNESCO, as well as the UNESCO leadership's visit to Azerbaijan, and international events hosted by Azerbaijan were displayed.
The event ended with a concert organized by our permanent representation and supported by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation.
The richness of Azerbaijan's musical culture piqued the interest of representatives from various countries, and guests even after the concert asked them questions about the national musical instruments used by our musicians and the compositions they performed.
In the end, attendees sampled famous dishes from our national cuisine, such as dolma, ash, and gutab.
Representatives of member states, ambassadors, representatives of the UNESCO Secretariat and friends of Azerbaijan in France attended the event.
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