he Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), in partnership with the Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud Foundation, and in cooperation with ICESCO’s Regional Office in Baku, held the closing ceremony of the Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud International Program for Language Training: Arabic Language in Central Asia. The program benefited more than 200 educators and postgraduate students across six phases in Central Asia, covering Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan (two phases in Almaty and Turkistan), as well as Bashkortostan.

The closing ceremony, held on Monday, 22 June 2026, at ICESCO’s Regional Office in the Azerbaijani capital, was attended by ambassadors of several countries accredited to Azerbaijan, led by Mr. Essam bin Saleh Al Jutaili, Ambassador of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques in Baku, along with representatives of the universities that hosted the training program and several Azerbaijani government officials. The ceremony featured artistic performances reflecting the cultural heritage of Central Asia.

The ceremony opened with remarks by Dr. Abdulhakeem AlSenan, Director of ICESCO’s Regional Office in Baku; Mr. Saleh bin Ibrahim Al-Khulaifi, Director-General of the Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud Foundation; Dr. Majdi Hajj Ibrahim, Head of the Arabic Language Center for Non-Arabic Speakers at ICESCO; and Mr. Farrukh Jumayev, Secretary-General of the Azerbaijani National Commission for Education, Science and Culture. All speakers commended the cooperation between ICESCO, the Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud Foundation, and the host universities.

The speakers praised the training program for fostering scientific and educational exchange, promoting the status of the Arabic language and its civilization, and promoting cultural diversity through building bridges of communication among ICESCO’s Member States and their peoples, particularly in Central Asia.

It is worth noting that this program was organized under a strategic partnership between ICESCO and the Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud Foundation, in cooperation with several universities in the host countries, namely Eurasian University in Baku, Tashkent State University of Oriental Studies, Bishkek State University, Al-Farabi University, Khoja Akhmet Yassawi University, and the Russian Islamic University. Training was delivered by three experts from ICESCO’s Center for Arabic Language for Non-Arabic Speakers.