Ambassador of Tajikistan to Iran Meets the CEO of the Centre for the Great Islamic Encyclopedia

10/21/2023 10:59

‘Nizomiddin Zohidi’, ambassador of the Republic of Tajikistan to the Islamic Republic of Iran, met ‘Kāẓim Mūsavī Bojnurdī’, the CEO of the Centre for the Great Islamic Encyclopedia and a number of the CGIE’s senior managers, at the request of the Embassy of Tajikistan in Iran.

CGIE: ‘Nizomiddin Zohidi’, ambassador of the Republic of Tajikistan to the Islamic Republic of Iran, met ‘Kāẓim Mūsavī Bojnurdī’, the CEO of the Centre for the Great Islamic Encyclopedia and a number of the CGIE’s senior managers, at the request of the Embassy of Tajikistan in Iran.

During this meeting which took place on Tuesday morning, February 28, 2023, ambassador of the Republic of Tajikistan stressed the determination of the scientific and research institutions of his country to improve relations with their Iranian counterparts and stated his attitudes towards this issue.

Considering the National Encyclopedia of Tajikistan Institute’s desire to promote scientific research cooperation with the Centre for the Great Islamic Encyclopedia, he suggested that these two scientific centres perform studies in a variety of areas and sign a memorandum of understanding for a distinct period of time as well.

The ambassador of Tajikistan to Iran continued, ‘Studying the history of Transoxiana  and the Greater Khorāsān and undertaking research into the social and economic developments of the communities and governments in these historical regions in the past four hundred years can become the focus of the mutual scientific cooperation between the Iranian and Tajik scholars. In fact, keeping the peace and promoting the friendship among the people require that researchers make efforts to continue the previous studies by writing new scholarly sources and illustrate a vivid picture of the history of the relations among the ethnic groups, tribes, governments and nations in these regions.’

In response to Nizomiddin Zohidi’s suggestions, the CEO of the Centre for the Great Islamic Encyclopedia together with members of the Science Council and other managers of this scientific and research centre including Ahmad Masjid-Jamʿei, ʿAlī Bahramiān, ʿAlī Mīr Anṣārī, Muḥammad J ͑afarī Qanawātī, Kiānoush Kīānī Haft lang and Sayyid ʿAlī Mojānī presented their viewpoints and stated their opinions.

Expressing his very warm welcome to the ambassador of the Republic of Tajikistan, Kāẓim Mūsavī Bojnurdī said, ‘Today, we can no longer consider you to be non-Iranian and you will not be able to consider us to be non-Tajik; being racially related to each other, speaking the same language and having similar belief system, we have felt a sense of oneness for many centuries. The long distance between our countries, the political boundaries and even the diversity of our ideologies have not led to the divisions between our nations. Due to the earnest endeavors of our ancestors to develop different branches of science and broaden their knowledge and wisdom, the present generations have thrived on literature, culture, science and art and think of themselves as invincible. To preserve our rich heritage, we certainly need to cooperate with each other; therefore, the Centre for the Great Islamic Encyclopedia in Iran would welcome any collaborations with the scientific centres and research institutes of Tajikistan.’

He continued, ‘Our shared pool of memories throughout the history provides an opportunity and prepares the ground for us to communicate with the people in Transoxiana and the Greater Khorāsān and conduct research studies into their ethnic groups, religions and languages. It is a delight to see that the Persian language is spoken and written by the people in some of the countries in these regions. We are also delighted that the entry of Rūdakī  in the 25th volume of the Great Islamic Encyclopedia has been written in collaboration with one of the distinguished scholars and researchers of your country. We hope that our mutual research studies pave the way for further intraregional cooperation with other ethnic groups in the Greater Khorāsān territory.’

 The CEO of the Centre for the Great Islamic Encyclopedia added, ‘Farsi, Dari and Tajik are the three primary languages, from which many dialects have been derived. They serve as the means of communication between the peoples in Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan and other residing ethnic groups in these regions. Today, the anthropological and linguistic studies have contributed substantially to the increase of contact between Iran and the neighboring countries. We will indeed sign a memorandum of understanding with you as we have done with the research institutes in other countries in the Central Asia.’     

Mūsavī Bojnurdī concluded, ‘We are willing to perform some mutual studies on the cultural heritage of the peoples in Transoxiana and the Greater Khorāsān with your collaboration; establishing contact between the professors and scholars in both countries, compilation of the Encyclopedia of Transoxiana, the introduction and exchange of library resources, writing collaborative articles, holding workshops concerning the selection of entries, establishing contact with the Trade Union or the Society of Tajik Authors, organizing arts programs and activities related to music and calligraphy, holding culture nights, research exchange, focusing on the history and literature of Iran and Tajikistan in the past hundred years, research into the history of Persian literature and culture in the past four hundred years would be our recommended headings in our MOU. We are also willing to seek new areas for bilateral research cooperation.

At the end of this meeting, Nizomiddin Zohidi presented a six-volume Encyclopedia of Tajik Culture to the reference library of the Centre for the Great Islamic Encyclopedia.

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