Shusha is officially cultural capital of Azerbaijan

Shusha is officially the cultural capital of Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan’s Minister of Youth and Sports Farid Gayibov said at the opening ceremony of the “Shusha – Youth Capital of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation” program, News.az reports.
“Shusha is not only one of the most ancient cities of Azerbaijan, but also officially the cultural capital of the country,” the minister said.Gayibov pointed out that, during the current year, within the framework of the program, activities in the fields of science, education, culture, entrepreneurship, etc. will be implemented, in which young people from Islamic countries will also take part.“The government shows special care for youth in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani youth successfully represents the country in various world organizations, as well as in a number of events held within the framework of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS),” he added.The minister noted that a number of interesting events will be held in Shusha to promote solidarity of youth and preservation of national-spiritual values.The international program “Shusha – Youth Capital of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation – 2024”, implemented with the joint cooperation of the Youth Forum of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Azerbaijan, started today.The Youth Forum of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation annually selects a “Youth Capital” from the cities of the member countries of the Organization and organizes international events in this city during the year.At the 11th meeting of the Executive Council of the Youth Forum of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the cultural capital of Azerbaijan – Shusha city – was unanimously elected as the 10th host of the International Program of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation “Youth Capital 2024”.State officials, delegations of the OIC Youth Forum, member countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, senior officials of various structures, organizations and more than 150 youth representatives from 36 countries took part in the event organized in accordance with the decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan of April 17, 2024 on declaring Shusha city the OIC Youth Capital for 2024.The events “International Conference on Leadership and Diplomacy”, “NexGen: Social Innovation Forum”, “Islamic Youth Negotiations for Peace and Harmony” will be organized with the participation of many high-level leaders and youth from the member countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. The program will cooperate with global, national institutions and organizations, organize projects on educational, social, sports, intercultural dialogue, youth leadership and professional development and other areas.The events will take place from June 3 to 6, 2024.The OIC Youth Capital International Program was adopted at the OIC Foreign Ministers’ Conference in Kuwait in May 2015. Foreign Ministers of 56 OIC member states voted in favor of it, and the first OIC “Youth Capital” was the city of Istanbul in Türkiye. Shusha is the 10th city in the Islamic world to fulfill this mission. In October 2023, at the 11th meeting of the Executive Council of the OIC Youth Forum, the city of Shusha, the pearl of Karabakh, was declared the “Youth Capital” of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation for the year 2024. News.Az