Dr. Mohammad Mahdi Mazaheri, the president of the ECO Institute of Culture, met with the head of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Baku on October 26, 2018.
According to ECI Public Relations, during the meeting held at the historic building of Azerbaijan's National Academy of Sciences, the two sides National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan explored ways and means to expand bilateral and multilateral cultural and scientific cooperation among the 10 ECO countries.
The ECI President elaborated upon the organization's extensive activities in Tehran and said stated: "ECO comprises 10 countries, including Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan, and is active in the fields of art, culture, literature, sports, tourism, museum and libraries".
Furthermore, Mohammad Mahdi Mazaheri pointed out that during the past two years, in cooperation with the Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Tehran, fine joint projects have been carried out adding that holding a photo exhibition of the Islamic Solidarity Games in Baku, which was mounted at the ECO Diplomatic Art Gallery in Tehran, is an example of such joint endeavors which was warmly received by the audience and many cultural figures and diplomats residing in Tehran visited the exhibition. Besides, he referred to the Islamic Republic of Iran's desire to deepen its scientific, literary and cultural ties with the neighboring countries and the Republic of Azerbaijan.
Dr. Mazaheri further added: "Academic figures as well as cultural and artistic interactions can play historic roles in the fate of nations. He also emphasized the need for communication between the cultural, literary and art centers of the Member States.
Dr. Akef Alizadeh, the head of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Azerbaijan also expressed his willingness for joint scientific, cultural and research cooperation with the ECI in various fields and said: "We can extend our scope of cooperation through signing an agreement."
Referring to the fact that Azerbaijan and Iran are neighboring countries located on the shores of the Caspian Sea, Alizadeh added: "Signing of the Caspian Sea Legal Regime Convention has provided proper opportunities for the littoral states for cooperation in various fields, including cultural, research and scientific".
The head of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences said that the scientific and research institutions of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Iran could also conduct joint research in various scientific fields regarding the Caspian region.
It is worth noting that Dr. Mohammad Mahdi Mazaheri had travelled to the Republic of Azerbaijan to attend the 6th Baku Int'l Humanitarian Forum that was organized featuring the presence of 580 international figures from 97 countries and 24 international organizations at the Heydar Aliyev Cultural Center.