The opening ceremony of the Second High School Student Exchange Programme of the Turkic Council was held at the Mugham Club in Baku, Azerbaijan on 17 March, 2018.

The speakers, Deputy Minister of Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan Firudin Gurbanov, Project Director of the Turkic Council Jyldyz Uzhakova and Education Counsellor of the Turkish Embassy Mr. Abdulgafur Büyükfırat underlined the importance of the exchange program in promotion of the common cultural values and building long lasting friendship among the growing young generations of the member countries of the Turkic Council. They also emphasized that the Programme happens during the eve of one of the common cultural heritage celebrations of Novruz which will give chance to the students to get to know each other in an environment of holiday festivities.

During the Programme the participants will be able to get acquainted with Azerbaijan`s art, history and national traditions, celebrate Novruz holiday, communicate with their peers and effectively spend their leisure time, as well as will have training and lectures by leading experts of Azerbaijan in relevant fields.

38 students and 6 teachers from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkey are participating in this Programme which will continue untill 24 March of 2018.

The main purpose of the exchange program is to promote the common cultural values and traditions among growing generations of the Turkic Council Member countries, as well as to develop youth and cultural cooperation.

Representatives of the Ministry of the Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Embassies of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic and the Republic of Turkey as well as Project Directors Jyldyz Uzhakova and Jeyhun Shahverdiyev participated in the opening ceremony.