INITIATIVES OF AZERBAIJAN AND UZBEKISTAN STRENGTHEN THE CULTURAL UNITY OF THE TURKIC WORLD

On August 23, 2026, the state visit of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, His Excellency Mr. Ilham Aliyev, to the Republic of Uzbekistan commenced.

As part of the visit, the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, His Excellency Mr. Shavkat Mirziyoyev, presented President Ilham Aliyev with the Order of “Dustlik” of the highest degree. In turn, President Ilham Aliyev awarded President Shavkat Mirziyoyev the “Heydar Aliyev” Order for his outstanding contributions to the development of relations of friendship, brotherhood and alliance between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan.

A highlight of the visit was the opening ceremony of the new campus of the Nizami Ganjavi National Pedagogical University, named after the great poet in 1947 to commemorate the 800th anniversary of his birth. The Heads of State also viewed a museum exhibition dedicated to the life and works of Nizami Ganjavi and laid the foundation stone for the “Azerbaijan” Park in Yangi Toshkent (New Tashkent).

During the visit, joint projects in the fields of trade and economy, industry, energy, transport, tourism and other areas were also reviewed and launched.

In accordance with the instructions of the Heads of the Turkic States to promote the shared cultural heritage on the international stage, the Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation, established in 2012 at the initiative of the President of Azerbaijan and with the support of the Heads of State of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Türkiye, implements numerous cultural projects. Among them is a publication dedicated to the 885th anniversary of Nizami Ganjavi and the 585th anniversary of Alisher Navoi, which will be presented in the near future.

It should be noted that in May 2025, at the Informal Summit of the Organization of Budapest, at the initiative of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, His Exceller Mirziyoyev, on the accession of the Republic of Uzbekistan to the Turkic Culture and Heri as a full member state.