Mrs. Gunay AFANDIYEVA

President of the International Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation, Ambassador.

Mrs. Gunay Afandiyeva was appointed as the president of the International Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation in accordance with the decision adopted on 11 September 2015 in at Astana 5^th Summit of the Heads of States of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States.

She held the position of Consul of the Consulate-General of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Istanbul from 2004 to 2008 and the Secretary-General of the National Commission of the Republic of Azerbaijan for UNESCO from 2009 to 2015. Her major activities included implementation of several large-scale cultural, educational and scientific programs aimed to promote cooperative relations among peoples across cultures and religions, and building bridges among them.

As the president of the International Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation G.Afandiyeva participated and gave speeches at several major and significant international events, such as the
5-8^th  Summits of the Turkic Council and their accompanying events; 4th World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue, in the framework of which the International Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation organized round table on “Turkic heritage at the crossroads of cultures and civilizations” topic; 5^th World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue, in the framework of which the International Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation organized round table on “The Role of Great Silk Road in building dialogue among Turkic speaking countries”; 6^th Global Forum; 5^th-6^th Baku International Humanitarian Forums; 12^th  session of the General Conference of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO); the UN Alliance Of Civilizations Global Forum; Meetings of UNESCO National Commissions and Committees of TURKSOY member countries; "Heart of Asia" – Istanbul Process 7^th Ministerial Conference; The 18th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement, Ministerial Conference of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM); Antalya Diplomacy Forum (ADF);  and other wide-ranging events with participation of the high-level government officials, heads of well-known international organisations and diplomatic missions, prominent political, scientific, cultural representatives, and distinguished experts from different parts of the world. Several numbers of conferences, seminars, round tables, exhibitions, concerts and other high-level events and projects, dedicated to protection, study and promotion of rich Turkic culture, history, art, music and heritage at the international level has been organised by the International Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation under the presidency of G. Afandiyeva.

G.Afandiyeva is the author of many publications and articles published in local and foreign media. She was granted many national and international diplomas, certificates and medals.