The Summit on Cultural Tourism entitled “Open Air Museum: Turkey” and organized in common by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey, the Turkish National Commission for UNESCO, TURKSOY, the Metropolitan Municipality of Ankara, the Gazi University and Yon Group took place at the Sheraton Hotel in Ankara on December 23rd-24th, 2011 with the support of TURSAB (the Union of Turkish Travel Agencies), TUROFED (the Turkish Federation of Hoteliers), TYD (the Union of Turkish Tourism Investors), TUREB (the Union of Tourist Guides), SKAL (the International Professional Travel and Tourism Agency), the Municipality of Altindag in Ankara, the Gazi University, the Bilkent University, the Hacettepe University, the Baskent University,  the Ankara University and the Atilim University. 

The Summit on Cultural Tourism entitled “Open Air Museum: Turkey” and organized in common by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey, the Turkish National Commission for UNESCO, TURKSOY, the Metropolitan Municipality of Ankara, the Gazi University and Yon Group took place at the Sheraton Hotel in Ankara on December 23rd-24th, 2011 with the support of TURSAB (the Union of Turkish Travel Agencies), TUROFED (the Turkish Federation of Hoteliers), TYD (the Union of Turkish Tourism Investors), TUREB (the Union of Tourist Guides), SKAL (the International Professional Travel and Tourism Agency), the Municipality of Altindag in Ankara, the Gazi University, the Bilkent University, the Hacettepe University, the Baskent University,  the Ankara University and the Atilim University. 

The summit which gathered more than 500 participants took place in the presence of the Minister of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey Mr. Ertugrul GUNAY, the Mayor of the Metropolitan Municipality of Ankara Mr.Melih GOKCEK and the  Governor of Ankara Alaaddin YUKSEL. The event started with the reading of the congratulation message conveyed by the President of the Republic of Turkey Mr. Abdullah GUL.

The participants to the summit upon invitation of TURKSOY were Representatives of the Ministries of Culture and Tourism of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Tatarstan (R.F.). At the exhibition on cultural tourism which was held within the framework of the summit, the fairstands of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tatarstan (R.F.) as well as those of tourism organizations of various regions of Turkey attracted great interest from the participants.

Azerbaijan was represented by the Director in charge of the Preservation of Cultural Heritage at the Ministry of Culture and Tourism Arif ALIYEV along with  the Senior Expert on Foreign Tourism at the Directorate General of Tourism Kemale HASANOVA, while Kazakhstan was represented by Gulbanu KAYIRGALIYEVA from the Ministry of Culture of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan was represented by the Director of the  “Merv” Open Air Museum Recep CEPBAROV and Tatarstan (RF) was represented by the Director of the Open Air Museum of  Elabug Gulzade RUDENKO.

The Summit on Cultural Tourism featured 8 sessions. In their contributions, the discussants dealt with the development of Tourism in Turkey, the position of cultural tourism compared to tourism in general, success stories of routes and projects of cultural tourism, the preservation of cultural heritage, as well as the role of cultural tourism within the framework of the “Tourism Strategy 2023”. 

At the Summit on Cultural Tourism, the Representative of Azerbaijan to TURKSOY, Mr. Elchin GAFARLI made a presentation on various projects developed by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Azerbaijan with a view to  reviving cultural tourism. The participants to the summit also had the opportunity to get detailed information on various issues pertaining to cultural tourism: “The Dede Korkut Legend” and the “Heritage of Dede Korkut” and its touristic route, “The Road of Ancestors to Victory and Testimony between Azerbaijan and Turkey”, “Alexandre Dumas in Caucasis” which covers Azerbaijan, Russia and Georgia, “The Domiciles of Germans in Azerbaijan”, “World Heritage” within the framework of the Commonwealth of Independent States, and cultural touristic routes such as the Silk Road with the World Tourism Organization.

The participants to the Summit on Cultural Tourism later participated in vitis to Hamamonu and the Ulucanlar Museum organized by the municipality of Altindag.

Elchin GAFARLI
Representative of Azerbaijan to TURKSOY

(Translated into English by Yasemin Vaudable
TURKSOY Language Expert, Conference Interpreter and Translator)