At the invitation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the ECO Deputy Secretary General Ambassador Dr. Huseyin Avni Bicakli participated in the closing ceremony to commemorate the great Iranian poet Hafez Shirazi on the occasion of the World Hafez Week held on October 7-12, 2023, in Shiraz by the Society for the Appreciation of Cultural Works and Dignitaries of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Organized at the Tomb of Hafez, the event was honoured by the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, His Excellency Dr. Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi, attended by the Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance of the Islamic Republic of Iran, H.E. Mr. Mohammad Mehdi Esmaili, as well as diplomats from several missions; prominent Iranian and foreign nationals and experts in Hafez studies.
H.E. Mr. President said in his speech, “Hafez is the shining star of Persian poetry and the guardian of the national and religious identity of Iranians”. The President said, “Hafez’s poems are a message of monotheism and theism, and his divan, which the Iranians have on their shelves next to the Holy Quran.
