The 880th anniversary of the great Nizami Ganjavi was celebrated at the UNESCO Headquarters

In the framework of the Year of Nizami Ganjavi there was conducted the cultural event at the UNESCO Headquarters in the capital of France, Paris, dedicated to the 880^th anniversary of the great Azerbaijani thinker and poet Nizami Ganjavi.

The event was jointly organized by the Permanent Delegation of Azerbaijan to UNESCO, UNESCO Secretariat and National Commission of the Republic of Azerbaijan for UNESCO as well as by the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

The Permanent Delegate of Azerbaijan to UNESCO, Ambassador Elman Abdullayev, the UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Culture Ernesto Ottone Ramirez, Permanent Delegate of Turkey to UNESCO and President of the UNESCO General Conference Ambassador Altay Cengizer opened the cultural event and spoke about Nizami Ganjavi's works and his contribution to the world literature.

Ambassador Elman Abdullayev noted that under the leadership of the First Vice-President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Mrs. Mehriban Aliyeva, important projects have been implemented to study, preserve and promote Azerbaijani culture and literature on the international arena. It was underlined that one of these cultural projects, the reprinting of Nizami Ganjavi's "Khamsa", was an important step forward towards protecting the literary heritage of this great poet.

He said that the great thinker and poet, who never left his hometown of Ganja, wrote and created in several languages.

It was emphasized that the works of the great Nizami, created 8 centuries ago, promoted ideas and values that are still relevant today – women's rights, equality, justice, peace, equal education. Ambassador noted that the system of values advanced in Nizami's works remains the main ideas in our time, echoes the Sustainable Development Goals – 2030 Agenda and coincides with the priorities and activities of UNESCO.

UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Culture Ernesto Ottone Ramirez spoke about the importance of Nizami Ganjavi's philosophical ideas and the merits of his works.

E.Ottone said that Nizami's immortal works have also given a new impetus to the development of Oriental miniature art that was inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2020.

In addition, ADG thanked the Government of Azerbaijan for its support to the UNESCO 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.

In his speech, Altay Jengizer also said that Ganja, the second largest city in Azerbaijan, one of those cities on the famous route, a bridge between East and West, Silk Road has continuously developed for centuries. He highlighted that the human values are always glorified ​​in the masterpieces of Nizami Ganjavi.

An exhibition of miniatures based on the works of the great thinker, who promoted values such as peace, justice, humanism, high morals, freedom and equality, presented by the Nizami Ganjavi International Center, was met with interest by the participants.

The event continued with a musical performance by Azerbaijani pianist Etibar Asadli and French violinist Albertine Obert.