Oriented on making people closer

An online webinar of the Secretariat of the National Commission of Turkmenistan for UNESCO was held today in Ashgabat on the theme "The creative heritage of Makhtumkuli Fraghi and universal human values."

The forum brought together Turkmen and foreign scientists, representatives of UNESCO regional offices on the virtual platform of the Institute of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan.

Rector of the Higher Diplomatic School, Candidate of Historical Sciences Jumamurat Gurbangeldiev held an opening address for the participants. He described the significance of the literary heritage of Makhtumkuli as a cultural foundation for international cooperation.

In recent years, the works of the great poet have been translated into English, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Urdu, Arabic, Turkish, French, Russian, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Romanian, Tatar, Armenian, Kazakh, Uzbek and a number of other languages, the rector said.

In his opinion, cultural diplomacy is of paramount importance today for the development of relations based on peace, mutual understanding and mutual respect. At the same time, the prevalence of internationalization trends in the culture, active digitalization and internetization of this sphere today form a new environment that contributes to the unification of civilizations and peoples on the basis of common human values.

The rector of the Institute of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also recalled that in 2014, Turkmenistan held major events at the international level in honor of the 290th anniversary of Makhtumkuli, and is now preparing for a large-scale celebration in 2024 of the 300th anniversary of the poet's birth.

The executive secretary of the National Commission of Turkmenistan for UNESCO Chinar Rustemova, head of the Asia-Pacific sector of the external relations and information department of the UNESCO Secretariat in Paris, Andrei Shevelev, and director of the UNESCO Regional Office Svetan Svetkovsky from Tehran, also greeted the participants of the webinar.

Then a plenary session was held, during which the representatives of the the Institute of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Academy of Sciences of Turkmenistan, as well as the heads of the national commissions for UNESCO of Turkey, Iran, and Tajikistan made speeches.

Scientists representing the Gumilyov Eurasian National University in Nur-Sultan, the academic community of Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Turkey, India revealed in their reports various aspects of Makhtumkuli's creativity and issues of updating his heritage and literary relationships.

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