Declaring Azerbaijan’s “Shamakhi” as the capital of tourism in Turkey

The Organization of Turkish States declared on Tuesday the Azerbaijani city of Shamakhi as the capital of tourism in 2023 for the Turkish world.

This came during the seventh meeting of the tourism ministers of the organization in the city of Shamakhi, managed by the Secretary-General of the organization, Baghdad Amirev.

The meeting discussed increasing the number of flights between major cities of member states and observers in the organization, exchanging information and experts regarding tourism, evaluating the possibilities of cooperation in winter tourism and golf, and establishing relations between travel agency associations in member states.

During the meeting, the declaration of Shamakhi, the capital of tourism in 2023 for the Turkish world, was also approved.

Shamakhi is one of the ancient Azerbaijani cities that existed since the fifth century BC and includes the Gulistan fortress that has existed since the eleventh century, in addition to the tombs of rulers, a mosque, a cathedral and many ruins dating back to the tenth and eleventh centuries.

The Organization of Turkish States (formerly the Turkish Council) was established on October 3, 2009 and includes Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Hungary and Turkmenistan as observers.

The organization (based in Istanbul) aims to develop cooperation between Turkish countries in many fields, including education and trade.