Iranian culture minister meets Turkish officials in Ankara

TEHRAN,June 30(MNA) -- Iranian Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Mohammad Hosseini met with Turkish Culture and Tourism Minister Ertugrul Gunay and the Chairman of the National Education Commission Nabi Avci in Ankara on Thursday. A delegation led by Hosseini arrived in Ankara on Wednesday to attend the opening ceremony an Iranian cultural festival, which opened at Ankara’s Atatürk Culture Center on Wednesday. The rich cultural commonalities of both countries as well as expansion of cultural relations were among the topics discussed at the meeting. Hosseini and Gunay also agreed that 15 cities of the two countries would be named sister-cities in the years 2013 and 2014, the report added. Gunay stated that his country is ready to boost bilateral cultural relations, and the two countries can collaborate in different cultural fields especially expansion of relations between the national libraries of the two countries. Hosseini also talked about the great number of common words used in both the Persian and Turkish languages, and added that several Iranian experts are currently working on different samples of Persian scripts and literature in Turkey. Avci also said that the two countries have been friends and their borders have been borders of friendship since 1639. Paintings and calligraphic artworks created by renowned Iranian artists, as well as naqqali, a style of storytelling dedicated to epic stories from Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh, and Persian and Azeri music performances are among the programs arranged for the festival, which will be running until July 2.