The initiative to establish the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (ISESCO) was put forward at the 9th Conference of Foreign Ministers of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (then the Organisation of the Islamic Conference) in Dakar, Senegal (24-28 April 1978).
At the 3rd Summit of the ECO Member States in Mecca on the 25th to the 28th of January 1981, it was decided to establish the Union of Islamic States for Education, Science and Culture (ISESCO) with its permanent headquarters in Rabat, Morocco.
Under the auspices of King Hassan II of Morocco, the founding conference of ISESCO was held in Fes, Kingdom of Morocco, on the 3rd of May 1982. Moroccan socio-political figure Abd al-Hadi Butalib (1923-2009) was elected the First Director-General of ISESCO at this conference, which was attended by 28 countries. Mr Abd al-Hadi Butalib headed ISESCO in 1982-1991.
Azerbaijan has been a member of ISESCO since 1991. These relations, established in 1991, entered a successful stage of development with the awarding of the title of Goodwill Ambassador of ISESCO to the First Lady of Azerbaijan, Mrs Mehriban Aliyeva, on 24th of November 2006. Mrs Mehriban Aliyeva was awarded for her contribution to the development of education and dialogue between civilizations.
Former Director-General of ISESCO, Dr Abdelaziz al-Tuwaijri, repeatedly expressed his satisfaction with the level of co-operation with our country and showed interest in expanding this co-operation; Dr Abdelaziz al-Tuwaijri actively participated in a number of international events held in our country since 2006. Below is the list of these events held in Baku: International Conference “Youth for the Alliance of Civilizations” (1-2 November 2007), Forum on “The role of women in intercultural dialogue”, which was initiated by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and supported by UNESCO and ISESCO (10-11 June 2008), 6th Conference of Ministers of Science and Education of Islamic Countries (6-7 October 2008), Opening Ceremony of the Year of Culture “2009 – Baku, Capital of Islamic Culture” (18 February 2009), 6th Conference of Ministers of Culture of Islamic Countries (13-15 October 2009), Baku Summit of World Religious Leaders (26-27 April 2010) and World Forums on Intercultural Dialogue (from the 1st World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue on 7-9 April 2011 to the 5th World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue, which was held in Baku on the 3rd of May 2019).
The book “Coryphaeus of modern Arabic literature” by the prominent orientalist A. Imanguliyeva and the book “Azerbaijani writing in Arabic letters” were published in Arabic thanks to the efforts of ISESCO leadership.
It is noteworthy that the ISESCO monthly special magazine always covers the relations with Azerbaijan, and the comprehensive support provided by ISESCO leadership in holding the Days of Azerbaijani Culture in Morocco in 2008. The decisions adopted within the framework of ISESCO reflect articles related to the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Azerbaijan co-operates closely with various bodies of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, e.g. ISESCO, the Islamic Development Bank, the Parliamentary Union of the Islamic Conference, the Youth Forum of the Islamic Conference, etc. In this regard, the activity of the First Lady of Azerbaijan, President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mehriban Aliyeva is especially commendable. On the 23rd of November 2006, ISESCO Director-General Dr Abdulaziz bin Osman Al-Tuwaijri awarded the First Lady of Azerbaijan, President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mehriban Aliyeva the title of ISESCO Goodwill Ambassador for her large-scale and selfless work in various fields, including inter-civilizational dialogue, attention to children in need, and great support for the Islamic world. Also, OIC Secretary-General E. Ihsanoglu, who took part in the international forum on “Enhancing the role of women in intercultural dialogue” held in Baku on 10-11 June 2008, awarded the title of the Special Envoy for Humanitarian Affairs to the First Lady of Azerbaijan, President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mehriban Aliyeva for her humanitarian activities. It is noteworthy that the First Lady of Azerbaijan is the first woman to receive these high titles of the Organisation of Islamic countries.
ISO Director-General Dr Abdelaziz al-Tuwaijri visited our country to participate in the International Conference on Cooperation in Combating Terrorism (18-19 March 2013), which was jointly organised by the Republic of Azerbaijan, ISESCO and the United Nations. He also participated in the 2nd World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue (29 May-1 June 2013) and the 3rd Baku International Humanitarian Forum (31 October -1 November 2013), which were held in Baku with the support of UNESCO and ISESCO.
On the basis of the decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated the 14th of January 2016, the National Commission of the Republic of Azerbaijan on ISESCO was established in order to effectively coordinate co-operation with ISESCO.
During the visit of the delegation of the State Agency for Citizen Services and Social Innovations under the President of the Republic of Morocco to the Kingdom of Morocco on 9-10 November 2017, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between ASAN Service and ISESCO on the application of the ASAN Service model in ISESCO member states.
By the Order of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated the 13th of December 2018, the Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the Kingdom of Morocco, Ogtay Sudef Gurbanov, was appointed the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, the Republic of Senegal and Permanent Representative of the Republic of Azerbaijan to ISESCO.
On the 18th of January 2019, a statement was issued for the first time on ISESCO’s website on behalf of the Secretary-General of the Organisation, Dr Abdulaziz Al-Tuwaijri, on the occasion of the 29th anniversary of the “January 20” tragedy, which was condemned as a crime against humanity. The statement called on the world community and international human rights organisations to give a legal assessment to the tragedy and to punish those who committed this crime based on international law.
On the 31st of January 2019, ISESCO issued a statement assessing the attempts to build a new water canal from the Sarsang Reservoir in the Armenian-occupied territories of Azerbaijan as a gross violation of international law.
The following examples of cultural heritage of the Republic of Azerbaijan were included in the Islamic World Heritage List at the extraordinary meeting of the Islamic World Heritage Committee at the ISESCO Headquarters on the 2nd to the 3rd of December 2019:
- Baku Old City, the Maiden Tower and the Shirvanshahs’ Palace Complex,
- Historical centre of Sheki and the Khan’s Palace,
- Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape.
During the 40th session of the Executive Board of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (ISESCO) held in Abu Dhabi on 29-30 January 2020, the official name of the organisation was changed to Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (ICESCO).
On the 29th of September 2020, the Islamic World Organisation for Education, Science and Culture (ICESCO), as an institution dealing with heritage, culture and education, reviewed the recent events surrounding the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia. ICESCO also expressed concern over the destruction of a number of mosques and holy sites in Karabakh.
On the 13th of January 2021, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, received a delegation led by ICESCO Director-General Dr Salim bin Mohammed Al-Malik. During the meeting, the President thanked the Director-General for their close co-operation and constant support, particularly for their official resolutions made during the 2nd Karabakh War.