ISESCO decision to name Tashkent the Capital of Islamic Culture in 2007 is recognition of Uzbekistan’s contribution to the development of Islamic culture

The Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) named Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, as the Capital of Islamic Culture in 2007.
In his interview for the “Turkiston-Press” News Agency of Uzbekistan the President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov stressed that “the decision of ISESCO to name Tashkent as the Capital of Islamic Culture in 2007 was a significant cultural and spiritual event for the country”.
Tashkent received such an honor thanks to the outstanding merits of Uzbekistan before the Islamic culture and science, preservation of monuments and enrichment of Islamic heritage.
The capital of Uzbekistan astonishes the visitors from all around the world with its madrassahs and mosques, libraries with the rich stocks of ancient manuscripts, and museums, where the works of grand masters, scholars and architects of Islamic renaissance are now kept.
The President of Uzbekistan underlined that the country is proud of its world known scholars who made a great contribution to the development of the secular and religious sciences.
Sacred names of such our ancestors and their heritage for the Islamic civilization, as well as the incomparable contribution by the Uzbek people to the development of Islamic culture indeed merit the high recognition of the ISESCIO, the President said in his interview.
Since 1991 the issue of preserving, restoring and renovating the historical Islamic madrassahs, monuments and mosques has been given a great attention.
It is worth mentioning to remember the creative works which have been accomplished with regard to bettering such places of pilgrimage in Uzbekistan as the mausoleum of Imam Bukhariy and Imam Moturudiy in Samarkand, the complexes of Abdulkholiq Gijduvoniy and Bahouddin Naqshband, Minorai Kalon and Masjidi Kalon in Bukhara, the monuments of Ahmad Ferghaniy and Burhoniddin Marghinoniy in Ferghana, Khakim Termiziy and Imam Termiziy in Surkhandarya, the Ichan Kala in Khiva, Dorut-tilovat in Shakhrisabz, Odina and Kukgumbaz in Karshi city, as well as the Kasym Sheik tomb in the city of Karmana.
A large-scale restoration, construction and renovation work is about to start at the complex of Hazrati Imam in Tashkent where the famous Usman Quran is preserved.
A special attention is also attached to religious education. At the moment, the Tashkent Islamic Institute after Imam al-Bukhary, Kukeldash Madrassah and Tashkent Islamic University, established upon the initiative of President Islam Karimov, operate in Tashkent.
These educational institutions train the theologians, scholars of religious studies, and specialists in Islamic law, the source studies, international economy and information studies. Tashkent Islamic University is the only higher educational institution of its kind on the CIS territory.