Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director-General (DG) of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), met with Mr. Mintimer Shaimiev, State Councillor of the Republic of Tatarstan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Renaissance Foundation for Historical and Cultural Monuments, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Intercultural Dialogue, on Tuesday, August 29, 2023, to discuss the prospects for cooperation between ICESCO and Tatarstan in the fields of culture, particularly the preservation and promotion of heritage.

During the meeting, Dr. AlMalik pointed out that ICESCO places the protection, safeguarding and promotion of heritage at the forefront of its strategic orientations, as it represents the identity of peoples, adding that the Organization had inscribed several historic sites and cultural elements on its Islamic world heritage lists.

ICESCO DG also welcomed the willingness of the Republic of Tatarstan to rebuild historic sites, mosques and churches vandalized in the past, stressing ICESCO’s willingness to cooperate in this area.

For his part, Mr. Mintimer Shaimiev presented the fields of action of the Renaissance Foundation for Historical and Cultural Monuments, and its role in the restoration of a number of Islamic and Christian historical sites in Tatarstan, within the framework of projects aimed at reviving the ancient city of Bulgar and the city of Sviyazhsk, stressing the importance of cooperation with the Organization to inscribe the Republic’s heritage sites on ICESCO’s lists of heritage in the Islamic world.