National libraries of Turkic countries uniting for first time in 30 years

Azerbaijan initiated the creation of the Association of National Libraries of the Turkic World, thereby changing the situation in which the national libraries of Turkic countries had been unable to unite for over 30 years, Director of the National Library of Azerbaijan Karim Tahirov said at the plenary session of the international congress "Spiritual Heritage and Enlightenment in Central Asia," Report informs.

He stated that the creation of the association will be an important step in deepening cooperation between the Turkic states.

"We have been unable to unite for all this time, but now we will have an Association of Libraries of the Turkic World," Tahirov emphasized.

The director also stated that Azerbaijan is actively working to repatriate national literary artifacts held in museums and private collections in other countries. He called on Central Asian countries to support this initiative.

Furthermore, Tahirov noted that since 2019, Azerbaijan has acquired over 500 electronic versions of significant literary works from the Turkic world and published them in the country. He also suggested that his colleagues more actively transfer literary monuments from the Islamic world to the Center for Islamic Civilization in Tashkent, which, he said, would significantly enrich the institution's collection.