At the start of his official visit to Azerbaijan on Monday, January 11, 2021, Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director-General (DG) of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), met Mr. Anar Karimov, Azerbaijan Minister of Culture. The meeting explored the promotion of the outstanding relations between ICESCO and Azerbaijan.

At the onset of the meeting, Dr. AlMalik and his delegation congratulated Mr. Karimov on his appointment as Minister of Culture and President of Azerbaijan National Commission for Education, Science, and Culture while wishing him every success.

Mr. Karimov welcomed Dr. AlMalik and his delegation stating that the political leadership in Azerbaijan highly appreciates the historic and timely visit. He also praised ICESCO as the first international Organization to conduct such visit, which includes many tours of historic sites in Azerbaijan.

Dr. AlMalik reviewed the salient developments in ICESCO in terms of the organizational structure, the working mechanisms, and the strategic vision, which promotes further communication with Member States. The goal is to develop programs and projects based on Member States’ needs and priorities and hold partnerships with non-Member States for the benefit of all Muslim communities worldwide.

The meeting also touched upon the areas of cooperation and partnership between ICESCO and Azerbaijan in the field of culture, particularly preserving and inscribing historical sites and cultural elements on the Islamic world Heritage List, as well as promoting the civilizational dialogue and accurately presenting Islamic culture to the world.

At the end of the meeting, the two parties agreed to sustain joint action to strengthen the partnership between ICESCO and Azerbaijan through practical programs likely to make major achievements.