As part of the joint cooperation between the International Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation and the Republican Child and Youth Development Center of the Ministry of Education of Azerbaijan, May 18-24, 2020, has been announced the “Week of Museums of the Turkic World”. The program aims to acquaint schoolchildren with museums of the Turkic world, to attract young people to a deeper study of the history, culture and art of the Turkic countries in the quarantine regime announced in countries in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic.
The opening ceremony of the Week of Museums of the Turkic World was held on May 18, 2020 on the online platform. The ceremony was attended by Azerbaijan’s Minister of Education Jeyhun Bayramov, President of the International Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation Gunay Afandiyeva, extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassadors of member countries and observers of the fund in Azerbaijan, director of the Republican Child and Youth Development Center Firuza Sultan-zade, involved in the project heads of museums in Turkic-speaking countries, as well as a large number of schoolchildren.
In his opening remarks, Minister of Education Jeyhun Bayramov said that the project will make a valuable contribution to the mutual dissemination of the common culture of Turkic-speaking countries and the strengthening of cooperation. The Minister praised the role of museums in the development of school education, noting the participation of a large number of students from various regions of Azerbaijan in this project.
President of the International Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation Gunay Afandiyeva emphasized the importance of jointly organizing the Week of Museums of the Turkic World with the Republican Child and Youth Development Center of Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Education to expand friendly and fraternal relations between Turkic-speaking countries. Gunay Afandiyeva noted that thanks to this project, schoolchildren, making a virtual trip to various museums of the Turkic world, will become more familiar with their culture and art.
Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Azerbaijan Serzhan Abdykarimov, Ambassador of Turkey to Erkan Ozoral, Ambassador of Uzbekistan to Azerbaijan Bahrom Ashrafkhanov, Ambassador of Hungary to Azerbaijan Viktor Szederkenyi emphasized that the project plays an important role in the rapprochement of the Turkic world and gave brief information about the culture and art of their countries.
The director of the Republican Child and Youth Development Center, Firuza Sultan-Zade, noted that held since 2015, the Museum Week for schoolchildren, is celebrated for the first time at the international level, as the Week of Museums of the Turkic World, and expressed gratitude to the International Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation. She also noted that schoolchildren and members of the circles of the Republican Child and Youth Development Center in Baku and other regions of the country will join virtual tours.
Then, the directors of the Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum, the National Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Gapar Aitiev Kyrgyz National Museum of Fine Arts, the Troy Museum of the Republic of Turkey, The State Museum of History of Uzbekistan and the The Hungarian National Museum participating in the Week of Museums of the Turkic World hailed a positive impact on mutual spiritual enrichment in the framework of cooperation.
After the official part, the students made a virtual tour to the Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum and got acquainted with the exhibits.
The project provides for the organization of virtual tours for children and youth to the museums of member countries and observers of the International Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation daily from May 18 to 24. The program will continue on May 19 with the National Museum of Kazakhstan, May 20 with the Kyrgyz National Museum of Fine Arts, May 21 with the Troy Museum of the Republic of Turkey, May 22 with the State Museum of History of Uzbekistan, May 23 with the Hungarian National Museum and end with the official closing of the Museum Week for schoolchildren on May 24.