BAKU, July 1. /Dunyo IA/. An international congress themed “The First Turkology Congress: A Centenary of Scientific and Cultural Heritage” was held at the Heydar Aliyev Center in the capital of Azerbaijan, reports Dunyo IA correspondent.

Exactly one hundred years ago, the First Turkology Congress took place in Baku, bringing together 131 representatives of the Turkic peoples. To commemorate the centenary of this historic event, the Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan announced the launch of the Turkic World Week. The opening ceremony of the international congress, organized as part of this week, was attended by more than 100 prominent scholars, Turkologists and experts from over 20 countries worldwide.

Solemn opening ceremony, chaired by the Minister of Culture of Azerbaijan Adil Karimli, was attended by the Minister of Culture of Uzbekistan Ozodbek Nazarbekov. During the event, the welcoming address of the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev to the participants of the international congress, dedicated to the centenary of the First Turkology Congress, was read aloud.

In his address, the Head of State specifically emphasized that the participation of 11 selfless and prominent representatives of the Uzbek intelligentsia in the historic congress held in Baku one hundred years ago will forever remain a source of pride for present and future generations.

Furthermore, in his address, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev proposed the creation of an international scientific and encyclopedic project titled “Enlighteners of the Turkic World” in collaboration with the leading research centers of the Turkic states, as well as the establishment of a unified digital library aggregating all works and archival documents of the representatives of the Jadid movement.

Uzbek scholars are actively participating in the work of the congress's thematic sessions, presenting the results of their research and scientific reports. Symbolically, one of the sectional meetings was held in the historic building where the First Turkology Congress took place exactly one hundred years ago. Today, this building houses the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan.

Program of the Turkic World Week, within the framework of which the congress was held, also provides for study tours of the congress participants and foreign guests to the historic cities of Azerbaijan - Aghdam, Shusha and Khankendi.