Lachin presented with CIS Cultural Capital Certificate

The official opening ceremony of the CIS Capital of Culture 2025 was held in Lachin city on June 3, organized by Azerbaijan's Ministry of Culture and the Special Representative of the President in the Lachin district, anews informs.

Speaking at the opening, Minister of Culture Adil Karimli announced that, in accordance with the decision of the CIS Humanitarian Cooperation Council dated October 8, 2024, the city of Lachin in the East Zangazur region of Azerbaijan has been declared the CIS Capital of Culture in 2025.

According to him, the declaration of Lachin city as the CIS Capital of Culture will be an important impetus for the cultural revival of the city and its active integration into the system of international cooperation.

"After the liberation of our territories from occupation in 2020, large-scale restoration and reconstruction work is being carried out on these lands under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev. The concept of the restoration of the liberated territories involves not only the physical reconstruction of infrastructure and monuments, but also the revival of cultural life," Karimli said.

CIS Deputy Secretary General Nurlan Seytimov stressed the importance of the event held today in Lachin. He said that the declaration of Lachin as the cultural capital of the CIS is an important event not only for Azerbaijan but also for the entire region. This initiative will contribute to the expansion of cultural cooperation, as well as the revival of the liberated territories.

Mikhail Shvydkoy, Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation for International Cultural Cooperation, said that the implementation of this program is a source of great joy:

“It seems to me that this program is being implemented very correctly and expediently”.

After the speeches, Mikhail Shvydkoy presented the certificate of the cultural capital of the Union to Masim Mammadov, the Azerbaijani President’s Special Representative in the Lachin district.